Rising mortgage rates could ‘supercharge’ spring buying season
January 25, 2022
The fear of missing out on low mortgage rates could “supercharge” the housing market ahead of the spring homebuying season, but not necessarily in markets where inventory is scarce. That’s according to Mark Fleming, chief economist for First American Financial Corp., in an analysis gauging the potential impact of rising home prices and mortgage rates on homebuyer demand. First American’s latest Real House Price Index shows affordability was down 21 percent in November from a year ago, with 21.5 percent home price appreciation and a 30-basis point bump in mortgage rates outweighing 4.4 percent income growth. “Affordability is likely to decline further in 2022 because both mortgage rates and nominal house prices are expected to rise,” Fleming said in a Monday blog post. (Source Inman News, article by Matt Carter)
