Shares of several real estate stocks and mortgage real estate investment trusts (REITs) struggled today as mortgage rates soared.
Shares of the real estate brokerage Redfin (NASDAQ: RDFN) traded close to 7% lower as of 11:50 a.m. ET today. Meanwhile, shares of mortgage REITs AGNC Investment (NASDAQ: AGNC) and Annaly Capital Management (NYSE: NLY) traded more than 5% and nearly 10% lower, respectively.
Mortgage rates just keep pushing higher. The yield on the 30-year fixed mortgage zoomed to 6.7%, up more than 40 basis points from last week (basis point = 0.01%), and is now the highest it's been since July 2007. The sudden spike due to market volatility and uncertainty has started to choke off homebuyer demand.
For further details see:
Why Shares of Redfin, AGNC Investment Corp., and Annaly Capital Management Are Falling Today