{"id":14761,"date":"2019-01-21T15:22:41","date_gmt":"2019-01-21T15:22:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.anthonydidonato.net\/wordpress\/?p=14761"},"modified":"2019-01-21T15:22:42","modified_gmt":"2019-01-21T15:22:42","slug":"lower-mortgage-rates-escalate-sales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.anthonydidonato.net\/wordpress\/lower-mortgage-rates-escalate-sales\/","title":{"rendered":"Lower Mortgage Rates Escalate Sales"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lower Mortgage Rates Escalate Sales<\/h1>\n
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Lower Mortgage Rates Escalate Sales<\/p><\/div>\n

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The real estate industry will soon see what kind of impact weeks of declining mortgage rates have had on home sales. Will it provide the boost some experts are predicting?<\/p>\n

Since early November, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has fallen nearly half a percentage point, from 4.94 percent to 4.45 percent, where it stood at the end of this week. This could provide an important incentive for potential home buyers to make a move. The 30-year rate, which didn\u2019t budge in the latest week of reporting, was on a downward trend for six consecutive weeks prior. Existing-home sales in November were already bouncing back from unusually low volume in the summer months, gaining 1.9 percent month over month, due largely to stability in the overall economy, according to data from the National Association of REALTORS\u00ae. But when NAR\u2019s data for December existing-home sales is released Tuesday, it may reveal whether lower mortgage rates have escalated sales gains.<\/p>\n

NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun told Yahoo! Finance on Thursday that he expects recent declines in mortgage rates to keep home sales on an upward track\u2014possibly leading to an additional 200,000 transactions this year. \u201cBuyers will want to take advantage of the lower rates,\u201d Yun says. \u201cThis additional demand will help absorb inventory. Both home prices and home sales will be lifted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though rates were flat in the latest week, due largely to weaker manufacturing data and a prediction that the Federal Reserve will leave its benchmark interest rate alone<\/a> for now, other industry experts echo Yun\u2019s positive outlook. \u201cInterest rate-sensitive sectors of the economy\u2014such as consumer mortgage demand and homebuilder construction sentiment\u2014are on the mend, which indicates that lower interest rates are beginning to have a positive impact on some segments of the economy,\u201d says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac\u2019s chief economist.<\/p>\n

Freddie Mac reports the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending Jan. 17:<\/p>\n