The Commercial Real Estate Alpha Site

By Saundra Latham, Editor at LinkedIn News

9-29-23

It’s a rough time to be a prospective homebuyer. The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage surged to 7.31% Thursday, a level not seen since December 2000.

But today, it’s a double-whammy: Unlike then, persistently tight inventory is also keeping home prices high, Freddie Mac notes — and there doesn’t appear to be any relief in sight. The Fed signaled last week that another benchmark rate hike is coming before the end of the year, and it expects higher rates to linger through next year and even into 2025.

• Pending home sales slumped more than 7% in August after rising in June and July.
• Investors are concerned that higher interest rates could also trigger defaults from deeply indebted companies that borrowed substantially at ultra-low rates.