Almost half of all mortgaged U.S. homes are “equity rich” after a record gain in home prices, according to a report from AATOM Data Solutions.
Soaring inflation rates along with elevated housing prices weighed on the minds of Americans.
Mortgage interest rates in the U.S. this week reached the highest level in almost 13 years as the Federal Reserve fought inflation by tightening monetary policy.
Consumer confidence in the housing market dropped to the lowest level since the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report on Monday.
The U.S. unemployment rate held steady at 3.6% last month as the gain in payrolls beat economists' expectations.
The average U.S. rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage rose to the highest level since August 2009, Freddie Mac said in a report.
The Fed increased its benchmark rate by half a percentage point and laid out a plan to reduce its balance sheet to fight inflation.
A surge in home prices coupled with a jump in mortgage rates sent affordability for American homebuyers to the lowest level since 2008, according to a report from NAR.
The co-called “core PCE,” the Fed's favored inflation measure that excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 5.2% in March from a year earlier, slowing from February's pace.
Gross domestic product in the first quarter fell 1.2% from a year earlier, the first contraction since the beginning of the pandemic, as Covid-19 infections surged.
