“The speed and level to which rates have climbed this year have greatly reduced refinance activity and exacerbated existing affordability challenges in the purchase market,” Joel Kan, an MBA economist, said in a release Wednesday. “Residential housing activity ranging from new housing starts to home sales have been on downward trends coinciding with the rise in rates.”
Mortgage rates moved even higher this week, with another reading from Mortgage News Daily putting the 30-year fixed at 7.15% on Tuesday.
Higher rates and falling buyer demand caused homebuilder sentiment to fall again on the National Association of Home Builders index. Builder sentiment, now well into the negative range, is half of what it was just six months ago.
