October 4, 2023
United States:
US 30-Year Mortgage Rate Tops 7.5% for First Time Since 2000
US mortgage rates last week topped 7.5% for the first since November 2000 and applications for home purchases tumbled to a multi-decade low, illustrating a battered housing market.
The contract rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage rose by 12 basis points, the most since mid-August, to 7.53% in the week ended Sept. 29, according to Mortgage Bankers Association data out Wednesday. The index of home-purchase applications fell 5.7% to 136.6, the lowest level since 1995.
Europe:
European Real Estate Faces New Pressure as Property Funds Wobble
In the cheap-money era, a torrent of cash poured into European property funds. But as it gets easier to find decent returns elsewhere, investors are heading for the exits, adding fresh pressure to hard-hit real estate markets. With redemptions mounting, the incentive to sell properties and raise cash to pay out investors promises to bring an end to a standoff that began last year when interest rates spurred buyers to offer lowball prices that sellers weren’t willing to accept. Across Europe, commercial real estate investment plunged 59% in the first half of the year, according to MSCI, and valuations, already down by double digits, face the threat of a new hit as funds start to sell assets.
Asia:
Japan Keeps Yen Traders Guessing Over Whether It Intervened
Japanese officials are sticking with their strategic silence on currency intervention as speculation swirls over whether the government acted to prop up the yen.
The finance minister, the top currency official and the government’s chief spokesman all said Wednesday they wouldn’t comment on whether Japan intervened.
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