What’s the Latest with Mortgage Rates?

<article class="post-985148 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry" id="post-985148"><span class="entry-date">March 26, 2024</span><div class="entry-header center-block text-center"><h1 class="entry-title">What’s the Latest with Mortgage Rates?</h1><div class="shareBlock"><div class="shareTitle">Share</div><div class="shareIcons"><a aria-label="Twitter Share Link" class="twitter solid display-inline-block" data-tracking="Post,Social Post Link Clicked,Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/share?text=What%E2%80%99s+the+Latest+with+Mortgage+Rates%3F&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fgilliggroup.com%2Fblog%2Fwhats-the-latest-with-mortgage-rates%2F" target="_blank"><span class="force-hidden">Twitter</span></a>
<div class="fb-share-button display-inline-block" data-href="https://gilliggroup.com/blog/whats-the-latest-with-mortgage-rates/" data-layout="" data-size=""><a class="facebook solid fb-xfbml-parse-ignore" data-tracking="Post,Social Post Link Clicked,Twitter" href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fgilliggroup.com%2Fblog%2Fwhats-the-latest-with-mortgage-rates%2F&amp;src=sdkpreparse" target="_blank"><span class="force-hidden">Facebook</span></a></div>
<a class="pinterest solid display-inline-block" count-layout="horizontal" href="https://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgilliggroup.com%2Fblog%2Fwhats-the-latest-with-mortgage-rates%2F&amp;description=What%E2%80%99s+the+Latest+with+Mortgage+Rates%3F" target="_blank"><span class="force-hidden">Pinterest</span></a>
<a class="linkedin solid display-inline-block" href="https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;url=https://gilliggroup.com/blog/whats-the-latest-with-mortgage-rates/?shareSlug%3Dwhats-the-latest-with-mortgage-rates" target="_blank"><span class="force-hidden">LinkedIn</span></a>
<a class="email dashicons dashicons-email solid display-inline-block" href="mailto:?subject=From gilliggroup.com: What’s the Latest with Mortgage Rates?&amp;body=What’s the Latest with Mortgage Rates?%0D%0Dhttps://gilliggroup.com/blog/whats-the-latest-with-mortgage-rates/" target="_blank"><span class="force-hidden">Email</span></a>
</div></div><div class="post-tax post-category"><span></span><a href="../category/realtor-blog/index.html" rel="tag">Realtor Blog</a></div><div class="post-tax post-post_tag"></div></div><div class="entry-content"><div><img alt="What’s the Latest with Mortgage Rates? Simplifying The Market" decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://media.agentaprd.com/sites/222/20240326-What-s-the-Latest-with-Mortgage-Rates.webp" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 5px; clear: both; max-width: 100%;" width="358"/>
<p><span style="color: black;">Recent headlines may leave you wondering what’s next for </span><a href="https://www.simplifyingthemarket.com/2024/02/23/how-changing-mortgage-rates-impact-you-infographic/?a=712984-fa409495d5d70154d03a25e81e9540e2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">mortgage rates</a>. <span style="color: black;">Maybe you’d previously heard there were going to be cuts this year that would bring rates down. That refers to the </span><em style="color: black;">Federal Reserve</em><span style="color: black;"> (the </span><em style="color: black;">Fed</em><span style="color: black;">) and what they do to their Fed Funds Rate. While cutting, or lowering, the Fed Funds Rate doesn’t directly determine mortgage rates, it does tend to impact them. But when the </span><em style="color: black;">Fed </em><span style="color: black;">met last week, a cut didn’t happen — at least, not yet. </span></p>
<p>There are a lot of factors the <em style="color: black;">Fed</em><span style="color: black;"> considered in their recent decision and most of them are complex. But you don’t need to be bogged down by those </span><a href="https://www.simplifyingthemarket.com/2024/01/30/2-of-the-factors-that-impact-mortgage-rates/?a=712984-fa409495d5d70154d03a25e81e9540e2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">finer details</a><span style="color: black;">. What you really want is the answer to this question: </span><em style="color: black;">does that mean </em><a href="https://www.simplifyingthemarket.com/2024/03/12/what-mortgage-rate-do-you-need-to-move/?a=712984-fa409495d5d70154d03a25e81e9540e2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>mortgage rates</em></a><em style="color: black;"> aren’t going to fall? </em><span style="color: black;">Here’s what you need to know.</span><strong style="color: black;"> </strong></p>
<h4><strong>Mortgage Rates Are Still Expected To Drop This Year</strong></h4>
<p><span style="color: black;">While it hasn’t happened yet, that doesn’t mean it won’t. Even Jerome Powell, the Chairman of the </span><em style="color: black;">Fed</em><span style="color: black;">, </span><a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/mediacenter/files/FOMCpresconf20240320.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">says</a><span style="color: black;"> they still plan to make cuts this year, assuming inflation cools:</span></p>
<blockquote><p><em style="color: black;">“We believe that our policy rate is likely at its peak for this tightening cycle and that, </em><strong style="color: black;"><em>if the economy evolves broadly as expected, it will likely be appropriate to begin dialing back policy restraint at some point this year</em></strong><em style="color: black;">.”</em></p></blockquote>
<p><span style="color: black;">When this happens, history shows mortgage rates will likely follow. That means hope isn’t lost. As a recent article from </span><em style="color: black;">Business Insider</em><span style="color: black;"> </span><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-mortgage-refinance-rates-today-thursday-21-2024-3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">explains</a><span style="color: black;">:</span></p>
<blockquote><p><em style="color: black;">“As inflation comes down and the Fed is able to start lowering rates, </em><strong style="color: black;"><em>mortgage rates should go down, too. . .</em>”</strong></p></blockquote>
<h4>What This Means for You</h4>
<p><span style="color: black;">But you don’t necessarily want to wait for it to happen. Mortgage rates are notoriously hard to forecast. There are so many factors at play and any one of those can change the projections as the economy shifts. And it’s why the experts offer this advice. </span>As <a href="https://blog.firstam.com/reconomy-podcast/whats-the-outlook-for-the-2024-spring-home-buying-season" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mark Fleming</a>, Chief Economist at <em>First American, </em><a href="https://blog.firstam.com/reconomy-podcast/whats-the-outlook-for-the-2024-spring-home-buying-season" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">says</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p><em>“Well, mortgage rate projections are just that, projections, not promises and don’t forget how hard it is to forecast them. . . </em><strong><em>So my advice is to never try to time the market . . . If one is financially prepared and buying a home aligns with your lifestyle goals, then it could be the right time to purchase.</em></strong><em> And there’s always the refinance option if mortgage rates are lower in the future.”</em></p></blockquote>
<p><span style="color: black;">Basically, if you’re looking to move and trying to time the market, don’t. If you’re ready, willing, and able to move, it may still be worth it to do it now, especially if you can find the home you’ve been searching for.</span></p>
<h3>Bottom Line</h3>
<p>If you’re looking to <a href="https://www.simplifyingthemarket.com/2024/03/18/4-tips-to-make-your-strongest-offer-on-a-home/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">buy a home</a>, connect with a local <a href="https://www.simplifyingthemarket.com/2024/02/28/why-you-want-an-agents-advice-for-your-move/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">real estate agent</a> so you have someone keeping you up-to-date on mortgage rates and helping you make the <a href="https://www.simplifyingthemarket.com/2024/03/11/finding-your-perfect-home-in-a-fixer-upper/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">best decision</a> possible.</p>
</div>
</div></article>