US election doesn’t curb mortgage activity – or does it?

In
reality,
Redfin
agents
report
that
buyers
and
sellers
are
waiting
until
after
the
election,
which
aligns
with
its
survey
that
revealed
nearly
one-quarter
of
prospective
first-time
buyers
are
holding
off
to
see
what
Harris
or
Trump
do
next.

However,
home
sales
and
listings
are
still
holding
up.
The
typical
US
homebuyer’s
monthly
mortgage
payment
is
up
to
$2,593,
brought
on
by
rising
mortgage
rates
and
high
home
prices.
Chen
Zhao,
Redfin’s
economic
research
lead,
said
she
expects
a
bigger
drop-off
in
home
buying
and
selling
activity
because
of
the
jump
in
mortgage
rates.

“While
it’s
not
unusual
for
mortgage
rates
to
rise
heading
into
an
election
as
investors’
expectations
change,
mortgage
rates
surging
to
7%
after
the
Fed’s
interest-rate
cut
is
surprising,
as
is
the
fact
that
pending
sales
have
remained
resilient,”
Zhao
said.

“There
was
a
possibility
that
mortgage
rates
would
rise
after
the
September
rate
cut,
but
we
didn’t
expect
them
to
rise
this
much.
There
was
a
window
of
6%
mortgage
rates
early
this
fall,
but
that
window
was
shorter
than
expected.
It’s
possible
7%
rates
will
also
have
a
short
window;
rates
could
decline
depending
on
the
outcome
of
the
election,
if
the
worries
driving
bond-market
investors
to
demand
higher
rates
dissipate.”