Mortgage rates had some relief today with the release of the December CPI report showing inflation rose to 2.9%, in line with expectations of 2.9% and Core CPI inflation fell to 3.2%, below expectations of 3.3%.

Together with the inflation report, there are rumors that the Trump administration would take a gradual approach to implementing tariffs, with increases of 2 to 5 percent per month. This lowers investors’ fears about tariffs’ impact on inflation.

The Fed will likely “wait and see” at their next meeting at the end of the month.

There is some concern that the Trump administration will reintroduce limitations that set requirements for a limited amount of “High Risk” loans being purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which the Biden administration later removed. A high-risk loan is a loan that has two of the following: LTV higher than 90%, DTI ratio over 45%, and credit score below 680. This comes at a time when a large portion of loans are being originated with higher DTI and LTV ratios due to higher home prices and mortgage rates.

Today’s national average 30-year mortgage rate is 7.13%