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.

Science

SpaceX Falcon Heavy Launch of Private Griffin Moon Lander Pushed to 2026 Amid Testing Phase

Published

2 hours ago

November 2, 2025

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SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy launch carrying Astrobotic’s Griffin-1 lunar lander has been delayed to July 2026 due to ongoing testing. The mission, part of NASA’s CLPS program, will deliver multiple rovers and cultural payloads to the Moon, marking a key milestone for private lunar exploration.

Science

Russian Cosmonauts Complete Second Spacewalk to Install New Experiments on ISS Exterior

Published

3 hours ago

November 2, 2025

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Two Russian cosmonauts completed a six-hour spacewalk outside the International Space Station, installing plasma and semiconductor experiments, servicing hardware, and preparing for future missions. The EVA, lasting nearly seven hours, marked the 277th in ISS history and advanced ongoing scientific research aboard the orbital outpost.

Environment

California hits back as CARB takes legal action against truck brands

Published

3 hours ago

November 2, 2025

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California hits back as CARB takes legal action against truck brands

CARB Takes Legal Action Against Truck OEMs in Clean Truck Dispute — AI-generated Gavin Newsom; via ChatGPT.

Following a lawsuit brought against the California Air Resources Board (CARB) by major heavy truck manufacturers over California’s emissions requirements, CARB has struck back with fresh lawsuit of its own alleging that the manufacturers violated the terms of the 2023 Clean Truck Partnership agreement to sell cleaner vehicles.

Daimler Truck North America, International Motors, Paccar and Volvo Group North America sued the California Air Resources Board in federal court this past August, seeking to invalidate the Clean Truck Partnership emissions reduction deal they signed with the state in 2023 to move away from traditional trucks and toward zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs). The main point of the lawsuit was that, because the incoming Trump Administration rolled back Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) policies that had previously given individual states the right to set their own environmental and emissions laws, the truck makers shouldn’t have to honor the deals signed with individual states.

“Plaintiffs are caught in the crossfire: California demands that OEMs follow preempted laws; the United States maintains such laws are illegal and orders OEMs to disregard them,” the lawsuit reads. “Accordingly, Plaintiff OEMs file this lawsuit to clarify their legal obligations under federal and state law and to enjoin California from enforcing standards preempted by federal law.”

After several weeks of waiting for a response, we finally have one: CARB is suing the OEMs right back, claiming that the initial suit proves the signing manufacturers, “(have) unambiguously stated that they do not intend to comply.”

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They want to sell Americans more diesel

In its lawsuit, CARB argues that monetary damages alone would not make the people of the State of California whole as far as damages are concerned, citing that the stated goal of the 2023 Clean Truck Partnership was, “to achieve emissions reductions that cannot be measured strictly in financial terms,” according to ACT-News.

The agency is asking the court to compel the truck companies to perform on their 2023 obligations or, failing that, to allow CARB to rescind the contract and recover its costs. A hearing on the truck makers’ request for a preliminary injunction was held Friday, with another court date set for November 21, when CARB will seek to dismiss the case brought forth by the truck brands. The outcome of these cases could shape how state and federal government agencies cooperation on emissions rules in the future.

You can read the full 22-page lawsuit, below, then let us know what you think of CARB’s response (and their chances of succeeding) in the comments.

SOURCES: CARB; via ACT-News, Trucking Dive.

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