In WFG’s Economic Outlook Webinar for Q3 2023, economist Bill Conerly, Ph.D, and Pat Stone, chairman and founder of Williston Financial Group, discussed future trends in mortgage interest rates. Conerly predicts that short-term interest rates will remain high until mid-2024, at which point the Fed will start to cut rates. He then expects mortgage rates to start to decrease, settling to plus or minus five percent by the end of 2024. Stone, who was previously more optimistic, now expects mortgage rates to remain high through year-end, with a potential decline in the first quarter of 2024. Stone also anticipates a stabilizing of home-equity rates in 2024, with a downward trend by the end of the year. Both agree that first-mortgage interest rates greatly impact second-mortgage lending volume, with Stone highlighting a potential slow increase in first-mortgage loan assumptions in a high-rate environment and a continuing move toward digital mortgage processing. For more predictions from Stone and Conerly, read the full article here.
