What happened in the housing market this week? Here's your weekly mortgage news round-up for the local Wheaton market, the Chicago suburbs, and beyond:
1. The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 6.44% in the week through Wednesday, hitting the highest level since August. A week earlier, it was 6.32%. The average 15-year mortgage jumped to 5.63%, from 5.41% a week earlier.
2. 2024 will register the lowest volume of home sales nationwide since 1995 thanks to a combo of higher interest rates, record high home prices, weak inventory in many areas, and the "lock in effect" (the reluctance of homeowners to sell when they have a very low mortgage rate) whichhas prevented the sale of an estimated 1.33 million homes.
3. Available inventory of single-family homes ticked up this week to 734,000 homes—up from last and nearly 37% higher than last year at this time. This is probably close to our seasonal peak, but if rates continue to rise, demand falls, and you might even see inventory climb through the end of November.
In Wheaton, there was a 41% increase in new listings from the same time last year.
