• According to data released by Freddie Mac on Thursday, US mortgage rates have hit their highest level in 21 years, with the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage reaching 7.09% in the week ending August 17. CNN (LR: 2 CP: 5)
• The average long-term benchmark rate — currently at its highest since April 2002, when it averaged 7.13% — was 6.96% last week, compared with 5.13% this time last year. The mortgage rate last exceeded 7% in November 2022, though it was still just short of last week's peak at 7.08%. New York Post (LR: 5 CP: 5)
• Mortgage rates have more than doubled in the last two years. In 2021, monthly payments on a $350K home bought with a 20% down payment were around $1,159. At the same price and with the same down payment, homeowners would now be looking at monthly costs of $1,880. NPR Online News (LR: 3 CP: 5)
• Rapidly rising mortgage rates have dampened demand, as mortgage applications are down 0.8% over the last week and 26% lower compared to last August. This is reportedly due both to buyers' concern about affordability and homeowners' unwillingness to sell and surrender their current mortgage rates. Yahoo Finance
• The 21-year- high comes after the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates to fight inflation; if interest rates continue to be kept higher for longer, experts predict it could send mortgage rates beyond 8%. MarketWatch
• While central bank officials have said they expect to cut rates in 2024, they have also stated that further rises before the end of this year are a possibility. New York Times (LR: 2 CP: 5)

Establishment-critical narrative:

• Mortgage rates are becoming crippling high and the Fed is continuing to trap American homeowners and potential homebuyers as well as ignore the impact of increased interest rates on the housing market. Consumers don't want to buy a home with a 7% mortgage, while homeowners planning to sell their property don't want to swap their 3% loan for rates that are more than twice as high. The Fed's actions are weakening the housing market, yet officials seem set on digging the hole even deeper.
  ZeroHedge

Pro-establishment narrative:

• Despite rising mortgage rates — which do present a strain on potential homebuyers — the overall US economy is going strong and there is little chance of a recession. The battle against inflation was never going to be easy and some sectors of the economy have been hurt more than others. This pain will be short lived however as, once inflation comes under control, the Fed will lower interest rates, returning mortgage costs to normal, affordable levels.
  NewsNation

Nerd narrative:

• There's a 20% chance that the CPI inflation in the US for 2023 will average above 4%, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
  Metaculus (LR: 3 CP: 3)