Mortgage
rates
rose
slightly
over
the
past
week,
with
the
U.S.
economy
continuing
to

show
strength
even
as
home
sales

remain
tepid.

According
to


HousingWire‘s
Mortgage
Rates
Center,
the
average
30-year
rate
for
conforming
loans
stood
at
7.11%
on
Tuesday,

up
slightly
from
7.08%
one
week
ago.
Meanwhile,
the
15-year
conforming
rate
continued
its
steep
rise
and
reached
6.99%
on
Tuesday
after
having
reached
a
recent
low
point
of
6.56%
on
June
21.

“The
bond
market
has
been
very
wild
the
last
few
days,
but
the
spreads
have
behaved
as
well,
keeping
rates
from
being
higher
than
they
would
have
been
if
we
had
2023
mortgage
spread
levels,“
HousingWire
Lead
Analyst
Logan
Mohtashami
said.
“The
15-year
loan
might
not
be
that
appetizing
for
investors
compared
to
the
30-year
loans
lately.“

Little
is
expected
to
change
in
the
short
term
as
the
odds
of
the

Federal
Reserve
lowering
benchmark
rates
at
the
end
of
this
month
appear
low.
According
to
the

CME
Group‘s

FedWatch
tool,
market
observers
believe
there
is
a
91.2%
chance
of
rates
remaining
the
same
after
the
next
Federal
Open
Market
Committee
meeting
on
July
30-31.

Speaking
from
a
monetary
policy
conference
in
Portugal
on
Tuesday,
Fed
Chair
Jerome
Powell
held
firm
on
the
stance
that
officials
need
to
see
further
cooling
of
inflation
and
gain
clearer
understanding
of
pricing
pressures
before
cutting
rates.

“We
just
want
to
understand
that
the
levels
that
we’re
seeing
are
a
true
reading
on
what
is
actually
happening
with
underlying
inflation,“
Powell
said,
according
to

reporting
from
Reuters.
“We
want
to
be
more
confident,
and
frankly
because
the
U.S.
economy
is
strong
…
we
have
the
ability
to
take
our
time.“

Also
on
Tuesday,
data
from
the

U.S.
Bureau
of
Labor
Statistics
showed
that

job
openings
rose
compared
to
the
prior
month,
although
they
are
down
compared
to
the
same
time
last
year.
More
available
jobs
in
business
sectors
such
as
government
and
durable
goods
manufacturing
offset
losses
in
food
services
and
private
education.

Data
from

Altos
Research
shows
that
the

spring
homebuying
season
has
peaked
and
listings
are
expected
to
recede
over
the
latter
half
of
2024.
Mortgage
rates
have
remained
lower
due
in
part
to
more
supply
as
the
646,000
homes
on
the
market
this
week
was
up
39%
year
over
year.
But
the
number
of
new
listings
also
shrank
from
the
prior
week
and
was
only
8%
above
year-ago
levels.

Melissa
Cohn,
regional
vice
president
for

William
Raveis
Mortgage,
noted
that
the
ramp-up
to
the

presidential
election
is
having
an
impact
on
mortgage
pricing.

“There
have
been
a
lot
of
interesting
elections
throughout
time,
but
I
think
that
with
what’s
going
on
in
the
world
today,
this
is
certainly
an
election
that
the
markets
have
to
pay
close
attention
to,“
Cohn
said
in
a
statement
provided
to
HousingWire.
“I
think
that
we
have
just
gotten
a
very
strong
wake-up
call
that
it’s
time
to
put
the
election
into
the
mortgage
rate
equation.“

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