Global Business Is Enduring a Synchronized Slowdown: Eco Week
Days after global finance chiefs described the widespread economic fallout inflicted by Russia’s war in Ukraine, business surveys may show an increasingly synchronized slowdown.
Jan 20, 2022
U.S. Mortgage Rates Surge for Fourth Week as Fed Eyes Rate Hike
, Bloomberg News
(Bloomberg) -- Mortgage rates climbed for the fourth consecutive week, reaching the highest level since the start of the pandemic.
The average for a 30-year loan was 3.56%, up from 3.45% last week and the highest since mid-March 2020, Freddie Mac said in a statement Thursday.
Rates followed a recent jump in yields for 10-year Treasuries. Borrowing costs may continue to increase as the Federal Reserve eyes a rate hike to dampen surging inflation.
That could put the American dream of owning a home further out of reach for those already struggling to find affordable options. Rates plummeted to a record low roughly a year ago, and cheap borrowing costs have helped fuel a red-hot housing market that’s pumped up real estate prices.
“As a result of higher mortgage rates, purchase demand has modestly waned in advance of the spring homebuying season,” Sam Khater, Freddie Mac chief economist, said in a statement. “However, supply remains near historically tight levels and home prices remain high.”
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