Navigating the 2025 Mortgage Landscape: Rates, Trends, and What They Mean for You
As we settle into 2025, the mortgage market continues to be a topic of intense interest for homebuyers, homeowners, and market watchers alike. With rates hovering in the mid-6% range, we're seeing a slight reprieve from the highs of recent years, but we're far from the ultra-low rates of the early 2020s.What's Driving These Rates?Several key factors are shaping the current mortgage rate environment:Inflation Concerns: The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, rose 2.6% year over year in December. This marks the third consecutive month of increases, putting upward pressure on rates.Federal Reserve Policy: The Fed's decision to keep its benchmark rate steady has had a ripple effect on mortgage rates.Economic Uncertainty: Proposed tariff pol...