Fears of a global economic slowdown due to China’s Coronavirus has driven investors to the safe-haven of the U.S. bond market, thus driving interest rates lower. With mortgage interest rates declining, the number of U.S. home buyers applying for mortgages is at a 7-year high.
China is now a major economic player and its impact on the global economy could be substantial as Nicholas Lardy, a Peterson Institute China expert noted, “The knock-on effects for the global economy are going to be greater.”