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...Mortgage origination volume looks set to grow again in 2024 after falling to its lowest level in nearly 30 years, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association....
...Which apparently now includes itself....
...“Some people who could have chosen a lifetime mortgage now can’t because they don’t have enough equity.”...
...Now, we had the most questions from those whose fixed-rate mortgages are coming up for renewal in the year ahead. Now if that’s you, you’re in good company....
...Thanks to Rishi Sunak’s diligent efforts, the UK beat inflation . . . . . . and Andrew Bailey is now a national hero: Still, growth remains an issue....
...in mortgage rates”....
...Still, activity slowed, prices dipped and approvals for new mortgages fell by about a quarter last year. Volumes are now expected to rise....
...“New homes are now unaffordable unless the home builders can figure out another trick up their sleeve, which might be cutting prices further, which will mean their gross margins are impacted,” Rahmani said...
...Unless you have a stack of cash, a mortgage is still a sensible way to manage your finances. And when the time comes to fix that mortgage again, perhaps I’ll have to bite the bullet. But for now?...
...Mortgage rates have declined since the summer, with the average two-year fixed rate now at 5.81 per cent, down from 6.86 per cent, according to Moneyfacts....
...The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 7.07 per cent during the week ending December 8, from 7.17 per cent the previous week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday....
...For now, falling mortgage rates are encouraging buyers who couldn’t afford a move for most of last year, or didn’t feel it was worth it....
...“A lot of people last year took variable trackers in the hope that fixed rates will start to come down and now they have,” Anderson said....
...“We’re now seeing the brakes being put on some property deals as the brokers want to wait a few weeks to get a better mortgage rate,” he says....
...The message from specialist lenders, analysts and mortgage brokers was “nothing to see, move along now”. But by the autumn of 2023, the woes of Generation Rent had become a hot topic for the UK media....
...Financial markets’ expectations of interest rate cuts have pushed the 5-year interest swap rate to 3.4 per cent now; it was above 4.5 per cent in October....
...“Despite consistent salary increases for me and my partner, our outgoings — especially our mortgage — have increased at a higher rate. We are poorer now than we were five years ago,” said one reader....
...With popular mortgage rates falling since the middle of last year, “the prognosis for the housing market now looks markedly better than it did in 2023”, he said....
...But in New York, some of the best properties coming to market are now sitting for months....
...From BofA: Mortgage rates have eased — now hovering just around 7% — and we expect the first Fed cut . . . in June....
...Now mortgage rates have dropped back below 7 per cent and are expected to fall further later in the year....
...“Many are now choosing to not bother adding to their property portfolios or leave the market altogether as a result.”...
...“[But] buyers simply can’t afford to carry a mortgage right now, or they can but are waiting for rates to drop,” he says. For many, it’s not just the mortgage rate that needs to come down....
...“Whether there will be cuts in LPR now depends on whether banks can lower their funding costs,” said Ming Ming, analyst with Citic Securities....
...Honeyman said the level of incentives was now “steady” at 4-5 per cent of purchase prices....
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