The sticker shock at the gas pump is likely to start coming up with you. According to the Energy Information Administration, natural gas prices – like those used for residential furnaces – is likely to jump 30 percent this winter over last year. Natural gas futures are up 132 percent for the year. This is a level not seen since 2008.
The higher heating costs will only be added to price increases Americans are experiencing in many other areas as well. The cost of groceries, cars, household goods and even clothes are on the rise according to several consumer and retail reports. Supply chain disruptions began at the outset of the pandemic and have yet to resume a normal cadence.
Unlike oil, the U.S. is one of the world’s leading producers of natural gas. The Biden Administration would have to ease environmental regulations to increase domestic production and ease the price increases, a move experts suggest is unlikely.
Meanwhile, conforming no-point 30-year fixed mortgage rates are averaging 2.875 percent and 15-year rates are near 2.25 percent.
Do you have a question for Real Estate & Mortgage Analyst Mehran Aram? Submit your queries about a home purchase, refinance, or reverse mortgage via Aramco.biz, social media (#AramcoReport), or over the phone at (877) 700-0942 and your questions may be featured in an upcoming article.
