No place like home

Ten years ago, in the US the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage interest rate was 4.3% versus 7.7% today. Over that same period the value of the average US home more than doubled to USD 350,000 according to Zillow. The National Association of Realtors home affordability index dropped to the lowest level since 1989. As a result, mortgage applications, including both for new home purchases as well as refinancing, hit a 28 year low this week. It seems increasingly that more families are concluding there is no place like their current home.

Source: Mortgage Bankers Association, October 2023