XPost: alt.invest.real-estate, alt.politics.trump, talk.politics.guns   
   XPost: sac.politics   
   From: clunk@fail.cons   
      
   The thirty-year mortgage rate hit 7.09% in early August, according to new   
   data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.   
      
   That's the highest level since 2002, based on historic data from Freddie   
   Mac, and rates aren't expected to drop anytime soon, making it a difficult   
   time to be a homebuyer.   
      
   A couple of factors are at play in the rising rates revealed in the MBA's   
   report Thursday. For one, an aggressive series of interest rate hikes by   
   the Fed have made mortgages, auto loans, credit cards and business   
   borrowing more expensive. The central bank recently raised its target   
   federal funds rate to between 5.25% and 5.5%, once again putting upward   
   pressure on mortgage rates.   
      
   "[Mortgage rates] are about twice as high as they were during the   
   pandemic. So owing to that, buying a house, even if prices stay the same   
   or fall, is much more expensive in most circumstances because rates are so   
   much higher," LendingTree senior economic Jacob Channel told CBS   
   MoneyWatch.   
      
   Fitch Ratings' downgrading of U.S. debt from the highest rating also   
   contributed to the most recent spike in mortgage rates, according to   
   Channel.   
      
   "When that happens, people can panic and sell bonds, interest rates have   
   to go up, so mortgage rates follow," he told CBS MoneyWatch.   
      
   https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mortgage-rates-once-again-above-   
   223500426.html   
      
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