Weekly Mortgage Market Update for April 26, 2018

For the Week Ending April 26, 2018

Please enjoy this quick update on what happened this week in the housing and financial markets.

Concerns over inflation and a spike in Treasury yields drove rates up this week. The 10-yr Treasury broke the 3% yield mark for the first time since 2014.

While inflation is growing domestically, lack of inflation is still a concern overseas. The ECB is continuing economic stimulus, helping to keep rates lower here.

Consumer confidence rebounded in April, pointing to underlying strength in the economy. Strong confidence is likely to fuel an increase in consumer spending.

New home sales, which account for 11% of the housing market, increased 4% in March. That's an 8.8% increase from a year ago, a big jump.

Home prices continue to surge, even as mortgage rates rise. Home values jumped 6.3% in February over the previous year, according to Case-Shiller.

The number of homeowners benefitting from the mortgage tax break is expected to drop by half in 2018. Only about 20% of all taxpayers have used the break in recent years.

Anything that could possibly go wrong often does—as well as a thing or two that couldn't possibly.

Rate movements and volatility are based on published, aggregate national averages and measured from the previous to the most recent midweek daily reporting period. These rate trends candiffer from our own and are subject to change at any time.