Portland Mortgage Market Update — January 17, 2025

What a difference a week makes! Last week's jobs report sent rates spiking with no boundary in sight for how high they could go. Then this weeks inflation reports came out to save the day. Both the Producer Price Index (inflation on a wholesale level) and Consumer Price Index (inflation on a retail level) came in better than expected, which stopped the bleeding from last week to erase the losses and then some. Currently rates are back in the low-7's range with room to go lower.

Lower than expected inflation paves the way for the Fed to achieve its dual mandate and cut rates down to a "neutral" position. Currently, their rate is considered to be "restrictive" in that it is suppressing the market to get inflation in check. As the inflation data continues to come in lower, the Fed has more leeway to lower rates. But it wasn't only the inflation reports that helped us out- there was also an initial jobless claim report that came in yesterday showing a higher than expected claims. This indicates that last week's jobs report numbers may not be as accurate as expected so I would expect to see some downwards revisions to these numbers in the coming months.

Bridge loans AND rehab/construction loans? YES! We just a new HELOC lender that offers rehab loans based on the future value AND bridge loan HELOCs for people looking to move into a new house but have their down payment tied up in their current home. If you have anyone shopping for a home but is up against these barriers have them reach out to me this weekend.

Speaking of which- I am around all weekend so feel free to call/text/email me if there is anything I can do to help!