For the Week Ending February 16, 2018 Please enjoy this quick update on what happened this week in the housing and financial markets. Consumer prices rose more than expected in January, fueling fears that inflation is moving higher. Rising inflation will continue to pressure mortgage rates higher. The labor market is still showing strength, with jobless claims remaining below the 300,000 threshold. Wages are also showing signs of increasing. Rising inflation and the strong labor market have economists thinking the Fed may actually raise policy rates 4 times this year instead of 3. Higher rates are affecting mortgage applications, which were down 4.1% overall last week. Purchase applications were still 4% higher than last year though. Two-thirds of home buyers said they searched 3+ months before going under contract. Twenty-seven percent said they were outbid by another buyer. In a recent survey, only 6% of home shoppers said they would stop their current home search if mortgage rates were to rise above 5%. Not too bad.