Mortgage rates near 8% as demand drops to lowest level in almost 3 decades

Published

2 years ago

October 6, 2023

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Mortgage demand plummeted to a 28-year low as the average long-term rate creeped up toward 8%.

According to leading real industry group Mortgage Bankers Association, the average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan climbed to 7.53% this week — the highest rate since 2000.

A separate report on Bankrate showed that Thursday’s average on a 30-year fixed mortgage rate was even higher, 7.88%.

The rate was 6.75% at this time last year and mortgages below 3% were offered at the start of 2021. The mortgage rate hasn’t hit 8% since 1995.

Mortgage applications and applications to refinance a home have stalled dramatically, falling 6% and 7% for the week, respectively, according to MBA.

“The purchase market slowed to the lowest level of activity since 1995, as the rapid rise in rates pushed an increasing number of potential homebuyers out of the market,” MBA’s deputy chief economist Joel Kan told The Post.

The higher rates add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, limiting how much they can afford in a market already unaffordable to many Americans.

They also discourage homeowners who locked in low rates two years ago from selling.

The lack of housing supply also weighs on sales of previously occupied US homes, which are down 22.3% through the first seven months of the year versus the same stretch in 2022.

In response, Kan noted that applications for adjustable-rate mortgages increased, making up 8% of purchase applications — up from 6.7% a month ago when interest rates sat around 7%.

ARMs typically offer lower interest rates, though they’re fixed for shorter periods of time.

Mortgage rates have been rising along with the 10-year Treasury yield, which has historically been considered a key benchmark for mortgage rates.

Thus, as mortgage rates near 8%, the 10- and 30-year Treasury yields have also reached new heights, hitting 4.8% and 4.925%, respectively, on Tuesday — both the highest since 2007.

The advances could keep upward pressure on inflation, giving the Federal Reserve reason to keep interest rates higher for longer.

In August, US inflation rose 3.7% from 2022. Though it’s still above the Fed’s 2% goal, it’s a stark difference from June 2022’s four-decade peak at 9.1%.

Inflation’s substantial cooldown in recent months has forced many home sellers to slash their asking prices to lure in potential buyers.

Those who don’t slash their asking price risk selling at a loss. Last month, a report by real estate brokerage Redfin revealed that home sellers in America’s major cities are already doing this.

San Francisco sellers had it the worst, Redfin’s report showed, as they are a whopping four times more likely than the average US home seller to take a loss.

Detroit is home to the second-highest share of homeowners who take a loss in their home-selling transactions, at 6.9%, followed by Chicago and New York, where 6.5% and 5.9% of homeowners take a loss in selling their homes, respectively.

Though the share of New York homeowners who reported a loss was half that in San Francisco, the cities were tied for the largest median loss in dollars, at $100,000, Redfin found in a separate analysis.

Politics

Bhutan should embrace decentralized identity systems

Published

3 hours ago

July 17, 2025

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Bhutan should embrace decentralized identity systems

Bhutan’s unique naming culture and values of sovereignty make it a strong candidate for adopting blockchain-based identity systems.

World

Pope ‘deeply saddened’ by deaths at sole Catholic church in Gaza after Israeli strike

Published

3 hours ago

July 17, 2025

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Pope 'deeply saddened' by deaths at sole Catholic church in Gaza after Israeli strike

The Pope has said he is “deeply saddened” by the deaths of three people in an Israeli strike on the only Catholic church in Gaza.

A further nine people were wounded when the Gaza’s Holy Family Church was hit, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said in a statement.

“On behalf of the entire Church of the Holy Land, we extend our deepest condolences to the bereaved families, and from here, we offer our prayers for the swift and full recovery of the wounded,” the statement reads.

“The Latin Patriarchate strongly condemns this tragedy and this targeting of innocent civilians and of a sacred place.

“However, this tragedy is not greater or more terrible than the many others that have befallen Gaza.”

Parish priest Father Gabriele Romanelli, an Argentinian who used to regularly update the late Pope Francis about the conflict in Gaza, was lightly injured in the attack.

In a telegram for the victims, Pope Leo said he was “deeply saddened” and called for “an immediate ceasefire”.

The Pope expressed his “profound hope for dialogue, reconciliation and enduring peace in the region,” according to the telegram, which was signed by the Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, told the Vatican News website that the church was shelled by a tank.

“What we know for sure is that a tank, the IDF says by mistake, but we are not sure about this, they hit the Church directly, the Church of the Holy Family, the Latin Church”, he said

The church was sheltering both Christians and Muslims, including a number of children with disabilities, according to Fadel Naem, acting director of Al-Ahli Hospital, which received the wounded.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it was “aware of reports regarding damage caused to the Holy Family Church in Gaza City and casualties at the scene. The circumstances of the incident are under review”.

“The IDF makes every feasible effort to mitigate harm to civilians and civilian structures, including religious sites,
and regrets any damage caused to them,” the statement added.

Israel’s foreign ministry said in a statement on X that the results of the investigation would be published.

It also said the country did not target churches or religious sites and regretted harm to them or civilians.

The previous pope, Francis, spoke almost daily with Gaza church. In the last 18 months of his life, Francis would often call the church in the Gaza Strip to see how people huddled inside were coping with a devastating war.

At least 20 more people were killed on Thursday by Israeli attacks across the besieged enclave, medics said.

Throughout the 21-month war, more than 58,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s military campaign, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.

Israel launched a retaliatory campaign against Hamas following the militant group’s 7 October 2023 attacks, during which 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken hostage.

World

Syria’s president vows to protect Druze population after Israel airstrikes – as new ceasefire begins

Published

3 hours ago

July 17, 2025

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Syria's president vows to protect Druze population after Israel airstrikes - as new ceasefire begins

Syria’s president has said protecting the rights of the Druze population is “our priority” after Israel warned it would destroy forces attacking the minority.

In a televised statement early today, Ahmed al Sharaa told the Druze “we reject any attempt to drag you into hands of an external party”.

Several hundred people have reportedly been killed this week in the south of Syria in violence involving local fighters, government authorities and Bedouin tribes.

Following the president’s announcement and a ceasefire agreement, Syrian government forces on Thursday largely withdrew from the volatile southern province of Sweida.

Under the terms of the agreement, Druze factions and clerics have been appointed to maintain internal security.

As the violence escalated in Sweida, Israel launched airstrikes, including attacks on Wednesday on the defence ministry in Damascus and a target near the presidential palace.

Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has pledged to “act resolutely against any terrorist threat on its borders”.

The Druze population follow an offshoot of Islam and are estimated to number about one million, spread between Syria, Lebanon and Israel.

Sharaa – Syria’s interim leader after President Assad fled last year – gave a televised statement on Wednesday telling the Druze “we reject any attempt to drag you into hands of an external party”.

“We are not among those who fear the war,” he added.

“We have spent our lives facing challenges and defending our people, but we have put the interests of the Syrians before chaos and destruction,” said the president.

He also claimed Israel has “consistently targeted our stability and created discord among us since the fall of the former regime”.

Israel has accused the Syrian regime of being barely disguised jihadists – despite warming ties with Western countries such as the UK and US.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, as of Wednesday morning, more than 300 people had been killed in the flare-up of violence.

Around 1,000 Druze people broke through a fence into southern Syria on Wednesday in a bid to help, according to The Times of Israel.

Prime Minister Netanyahu urged people not to cross into Syria and Israeli military chief of staff Eyal Zamir warned they would not “allow southern Syria to become a terror stronghold”.

The UN Security Council will discuss the situation today, despite the US secretary of state saying yesterday that America had brokered an end to the violence.

“We have engaged all the parties involved in the clashes in Syria,” Marco Rubio said on social media.

“We have agreed on specific steps that will bring this troubling and horrifying situation to an end tonight.”