The Real Estate News Brief: Mortgage Rate Volatility, Request to Stop Rate Hikes, Member Shake-up at NAR

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending October 7th, 2023… what’s driving mortgage rate volatility, what the housing industry wants from the Fed, and why brokers are severing ties with the National Association of Realtors. As for economic news for the last week…   The Treasury yield has been on a bit of an upward trend and hit 4.80% last week. That’s a 16-year high and bad news for mortgage rates because high Treasury yields translate into higher mortgage rates. But since I’m a little late getting this episode together after our jam-packed weekend, the update as of Tuesday October 10th is that Treasury yields have fallen a bit due a rush into government bonds. As reported by MarketWatch, investors were nervous about the economic impact of the Israel-Hamas war. I won’t go into details, but lower Treasury yields brought mortgage rates back down a bit. The Mortgage Bankers Association listed the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage as 7.62% on Tuesday, October 10th...   ...That’s it for today. You can read more about the stories in this episode by following links in the show notes at newsforinvestors.com. And please remember to subscribe to this podcast, and leave a review!   If you’d like to know more about how to buy real estate for investment purposes, come to our next live event! You can also sign up for a free membership at RealWealth.com. It’ll take you a minute and give you complete access to our website. That includes hundreds of webinars, information on different rental markets, sample properties, and a free session with one of our investment counselors.   Thanks for listening! Kathy Fettke   Links:   1 - https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/03/us-treasury-yields-investors-weigh-economic-outlook.html   2 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobless-claims-inch-up-to-207-000-but-no-sign-of-rising-u-s-layoffs-1bd95457?mod=economy-politics   3 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/u-s-gains-strong-336-000-new-jobs-labor-market-is-still-hot-189e68c9?mod=economy-politics   4 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/job-openings-jump-to-9-6-million-labor-market-still-strong-ea1cfcfd?mod=economic-report   5 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/u-s-construction-spending-rises-for-the-eighth-straight-month-in-august-f0c28a9d?mod=economic-report   6 - https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/10/housing-industry-urges-powell-and-fed-to-stop-raising-interest-rates.html   7 - https://www.redfin.com/news/redfin-is-leaving-nar/