Fed bond buying scale-back to affect mortgage rates
By RICHARD MIZE NewsOK.com on Aug 23, 2013, at 2:27 AM Updated on 8/23/13 at 5:25 AM
David Stevens: About 70 percent of all households, counting renters and homeowners, are non-Hispanic white, Stevens said, but only about a third of future households will be. Blacks and Hispanics, who are comparatively younger and have more children, are driving the future of housing as whites age and have fewer children, he said.
Real Estate
U.S. homebuilders' confidence in the housing market held this month at its highest level in nearly eight years. But builders are starting to worry that sales may slow if mortgage rates continue to rise.
New home construction in the Tulsa region from January to August is outpacing last year's numbers, a continuation of the upward tick that started in 2012 following a six-year slide.
OKLAHOMA CITY - Mere spoken words can roil mortgage lending - and did, when Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said in June that the Fed could scale back bond buying later this year: Loan rates are still heading up.
Wednesday's release of minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's July 30-31 meeting confirmed a near consensus for a need to slow down "quantitative easing" - later rather than sooner. But the Fed isn't the main one for leery lenders to watch in the long term, said David Stevens, president and CEO of the national Mortgage Bankers Association.
Demographics - that's the thing, he told Oklahoma lenders Thursday.
About 70 percent of all households, counting renters and homeowners, are non-Hispanic white, he said, but only about a third of future households will be. Blacks and Hispanics, who are comparatively younger and have more children, are driving the future of housing as whites age and have fewer children, he said.
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richardmize@opubco.com
Original Print Headline: Bond buying scale-back to affect mortgage rates
Real Estate
U.S. homebuilders' confidence in the housing market held this month at its highest level in nearly eight years. But builders are starting to worry that sales may slow if mortgage rates continue to rise.
New home construction in the Tulsa region from January to August is outpacing last year's numbers, a continuation of the upward tick that started in 2012 following a six-year slide.
