New data shows housing affordability falling, mortgage rates rising

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - New data from the Wisconsin Realtors Association shows housing affordability fell 5.5% over the past 12 months.

In the same time span, mortgage rates rose 0.5%, resulting in a 2.4% reduction in September sales.

Statewide listings are also down more than 5%.

It comes as the average monthly 30-year fixed mortgage rates rose to 6.86%, the highest since January of last year.

“You have an awful lot of people who locked into mortgages at very favorable rates, five to six years ago,” says David Clark, a consultant with the Wisconsin Realtors Association. “You might be pretty reluctant to put an existing home on the market if you’ve got a 3% mortgage rate and trade it in for a 7% mortgage rate.”

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Ken and Leo Note: This is a real problem and there are few real solutions on the horizon. The difference on a 250K home is -- 7% is $1,666/month vs. 3% is 1,056/month for a 30 year mortgage. Yep -- more than $600 a month more.