Average rate on 30-year mortgage climbs to highest since July

We got to talk about mortgage rates on the rise as we head into the new year now. The average rate of a 30-year fixed mortgage now 6.85%. That's the highest since early July. Rates have been steadily climbing since September. Elizabeth Schulze, who is not in St. Croix, she's actually here with us in our nation's capital. You know, you always have to travel with the president, right? Even if he's on vacation, and sometimes you really score a great gig. But anyway. I was there last year, Kira. I remember very well looking at Alex's live shot and like, what am I doing sitting right here? Yeah. And I covered Trump and he never went anywhere. You know, the best he got was Mar-a-Lago. But I'm not complaining. It was always warm and there was a nice pool. OK. So what does this mean for homeowners in the housing market, these numbers? All right. Well, not as warm of news, good of news. I don't know, whatever adjective you want to use to describe the housing market right now. This is a tough break right now for homebuyers as we're looking ahead to next year. We're closing out the year. Mortgage rates on a 30-year fixed mortgage, 6.85 percent. That's the highest level since early July, Kira. And what we've been seeing since September is rates have been creeping up. The difference here really matters. Why we track this so closely is because when you look at your monthly loan payments, a couple of those changes in rates can make a big difference. So a $400,000 home, that's about the median home price in the U.S. right now. Let's say you're putting a 20 percent down payment. Your monthly payment right now is going to be about $2,400 at today's rates. Just a couple months ago in September, when we saw that average mortgage rate around 6 percent, your monthly payment was about $200 cheaper. So that's why we're looking at these numbers so closely to track where they're headed. And that's why when you think about especially first-time homebuyers, it has been such a challenging market this year with this rollercoaster on rates. Now we are ultimately kind of back to where we started the year, though, Kira. Yeah. And, well, what do you think? Should homebuyers expect to see some relief with mortgage rates in 2025? We have a new president, new administration. A new president who has promised to bring down those rates. But at the end of the day, a lot of this depends on supply and demand in the market. And a big factor here, of course, is the Federal Reserve. The Fed has been cutting rates. But remember, mortgage rates aren't directly affected by the Fed. They move really more in anticipation of what the Fed will do and what the Fed is signaling, Kira. It's not going to cut rates as much. So I've been trying to find what the good news is for homebuyers, because you want to say that there is some hope out there. What it does look like is that there is expected to be more inventory coming onto the market because more new homes are being built. Still not enough. There's still a big shortage of homes, and that's a big reason why prices have stayed high. Then the other kind of reality here is people are getting a little bit more used to rates being higher for longer. So maybe some of those people who are locked in at higher rates will start to move, and that could open up some homes for people who have been on the sidelines, Kira. Got it. All right. Liz Dishelsey, thanks so much. Happy Friday. You too.