Why are mortgage rates above 7% again?

We're keeping a close eye on Utah's housing market. And right now, one of the big stories centers on mortgage rates. Yeah, those rates have fallen noticeably. But in the last month or so, they have shot right back up. New specialist Daniel Woodruff joining us now live to explain what is going on here. Daniel. Yeah, Ashley and Mike, I talked to an economist who says there are several reasons for the higher rates. And they're having a real financial impact on Utahns across the state hoping to buy or refinance their mortgages. It's a construction zone in this Lehigh neighborhood. Pam Greenspon just moved in. We're actually very happy here. I like it a lot. Pam owned another home not far from here. She benefited from quite a bit of equity when she sold it. But even so, when she got a loan for this house, the rate was higher than she'd like. I was hoping by the time I closed on the loan that rates would come down. And they came down a skosh bit, but they didn't come down nearly as much as I was hoping. Rates did drop a bit to the low sixes at the end of September. But since then, they've gone back up, now averaging above 7%. That's a difference of nearly $300 a month for the typical homebuyer. It really reflects the fact that the US economy is doing pretty well. BYU economics professor Christian Baumlein says because of that, there's doubt about how much the Federal Reserve will cut rates in the future. Long term, though, he still thinks mortgage rates will decline some. But I think we should perhaps start to normalize the thinking that the really low interest rates we've seen for the last 20 years may not be the norm. That may have been the exception. She is so very good. Pam says she plans to refinance if rates drop. For now, though, she's just enjoying her new home. Although I don't like living in a construction zone, can I just say that? There's construction going on all day long. There's one drawback of that neighborhood, but pretty nice overall. Now, we did get new jobs numbers today, which were weaker than expected. I asked the economist if that could lead to lower mortgage rates. He said maybe, but not guaranteed, because the lower numbers were a result largely of labor strikes and hurricanes, which are not a permanent factor of the US economy. He did say he expects more stability in the mortgage markets after the election is over on Tuesday. Back to you. We all love stability. We'll have to wait to see what happens in the next month or so. All right, Daniel, thank you.