Home borrowing costs inched higher in the latest week and remain just above record lows. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reports that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose two basis points to 2.99% with 0.30 in points for the week ending August 6, 2021. Within the report it showed that the Market Composite Index rose 2.8%, the Purchase Index increased 1.8% while the Refinance Index was up 3.2%. Spokesperson Joel Kan said, "Homeowners continue to respond to lower rates, with refinance activity climbing to the highest level since February 2021."
Consumer prices fell monthly after the big gains seen in the past 3-4 months which could be attributed to the full reopening of the U.S. economy. The monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 0.5% in July from the increase of 0.9% seen in June. The Core rate, which strips out volatile food and energy, was up 0.3%, down from the 0.9% gain in June and below the +0.4% expected. Annually, CPI was up 5.4%, unchanged, while the Core rate fell to 4.3% from 4.5%. This was hot, but less than expected with some temporarily high inflation components cooling.
Home borrowing costs remain low. Mortgage application activity rises. Consumer prices inch lower from June to July.
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