DUH.

Mortgage Refinancings Collapse To 2016 Lows As Rates Top 4.00%.

This is NOT news. 4% has always been the pain inflection point. I must have written about this a million times. For several years I've been writing about this. At 4% refi's do not exist any more. Period. Each and every time rates have reached it - activity has fallen of a cliff. It's just the bottom line.

It will be interesting what happens next though because once rates start going up (and I think they will) - people are not going to want to move. They are now because they can trade out to a similar rate.

My neighbor for example just sold his house in two weeks. Stuck the house on right around Halloween. I starting seeing rates go up and figured he was going to be butt hurt because they were rising quite quickly. Next thing I know he's got a pending sign on it. He got through right in the nick of time.

Now we get to see the real world. And it's going to be like someone stuck a stick in the middle of the gears. I'm honestly not sure where they will get the land to build new units on. Over the past three years plot after plot has been snapped up. Every time I drive by an open space plot I'm like - wow, that one is gone now too!

Mark my words - housing is set to get mind bogging expensive. Housing inflation is going to be intense. It will make pre-recession times seem tame.