The number of applications for mortgage loans fell by 64% compared to last year.

In the US, the average mortgage rate for the first time since 2008 exceeded 6%, Reuters reports, citing data from the Association of Mortgage Banks. At the end of July 2022, the US Federal Reserve System (FRS) raised the interest rate by 75 basis points, to 2.25-2.5% per annum.

Such an increase in mortgage rates has a negative impact on the housing sector, where sales of new homes in July have already fallen to a minimum in 2016. However, the collapse of prices in the housing market is not expected against the background of an acute shortage of affordable housing.

In addition, the number of applications for mortgage loans decreased by 64% compared to last year, and the refinancing index, calculated by the association, fell by 83.3%.

Since the benchmark for mortgage rates is the yield on 10-year bonds, which rose due to the tightening of fed policy, investors assume that the regulator will have to raise rates faster and higher than previously thought.

Now inflation remains high, reflecting the imbalance of supply and demand associated with the pandemic, rising food and energy prices. At the end of June, inflation in the US in annual terms was 9.1%, which is the maximum since 1981.

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