Is Now The Time To Buy? Homebuyer’s Mortgage Watch – March 27, 2022

To find out if now is the time to buy, check out this week’s mortgage highlights:

The reality of relentless inflation and a Federal Reserve prepared to respond in kind drove all interest rates higher last week.
Fed Chair Powell stated that nothing prevents the Fed from increasing its rates by 0.50%. While factually accurate, it has been more than 20 years since we’ve seen a half-point move by the Fed.
Some analysts are even suggesting that the Fed might be forced to increase rates by 0.75% at the next meeting.
Fortunately, the economy does appear to be firing on all cylinders, and the labor market continues to show signs of full employment.
After a rough week, this week could be another challenging week. Consumer Confidence, GDP, PCE Prices, the ISM Manufacturing Index, and the monthly employment numbers are all due this week.
The market is biased to push rates higher, but if we finally get some inflation relief in the PCE data, rates may not move quite as aggressively as last week.
The war in Ukraine could continue to provide some unpredictable influences in markets, creating both upward and downward pressure on rates.

If At First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again

According to the latest data from NAR, each home that sold in February had an average of five offers. A whooping 48% of the offers were for over the list price, and the average of those offers was 2.9% over the asking price. An astounding 13% were more than 10% over the asking price! According to real estate pros, buyers will likely lose two offers before landing their third. Be sure your financing is in top shape before house hunting.