This past week, the average daily mortgage rate climbed to over 7.4%, marking its highest point since last November 2023, influenced by an unexpectedly high inflation report and confirmation from the Federal Reserve that interest rate reductions would be postponed.
In March 2024, housing starts declined by 14.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.32 million units, influenced by higher-than-anticipated interest rates and persistent inflation, as reported by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau.
According to the National Association of Realtors, pending U.S. home sales in February 2024 grew 1.6% month-over-month from January 2024. The Midwest and South posted monthly gains in transactions while the Northeast and West recorded losses. All four U.S. regions registered year-over-year decreases.
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's latest Commercial Delinquency Report, U.S. commercial mortgage delinquencies increased in the fourth quarter of 2023.