The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate climbed again this week, moving the benchmark 30-year fixed-rate offer back to levels last seen about five weeks ago, Freddie Mac said Thursday. The rise adds pressure for buyers looking to lock in borrowing costs as the spring homebuying season gets underway.
Freddie Mac reported that the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 6.11% from 6.00% the prior week. Freddie Mac also said a year earlier, the average rate was 6.65%, underscoring how higher mortgage costs continue to shape affordability.
Borrowing rates also rose for homeowners and would-be refinancers. Freddie Mac said the average 15-year fixed-rate mortgage increased to 5.50% from 5.43% last week, while a year ago it averaged 5.80%, reflecting a broader uptick in fixed-rate pricing.
Mortgage rates generally move with the bond market, and Freddie Mac tied the latest change to developments in expectations that influence Treasury yields. The 10-year Treasury yield was at 4.21% at midday Thursday, up from around 4.13% a week ago, and lenders use the Treasury yield trajectory as a guide to pricing home loans.
Hannah Jones, a senior economist and research analyst at Realtor.com, said the news out of the Middle East was overriding softer economic signals. She said that under “normal circumstances” soft economic readings would put downward pressure on mortgage rates, but that the Middle East developments were outweighing them.
The main story in the background is inflation risk and central-bank expectations. Jones said higher oil prices can put upward pressure on inflation, which could affect the pace of Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts, and the central bank’s short-term rate decisions can ultimately influence the yields that mortgage rates follow.
Outside of the rate headlines, the housing market has remained sluggish since mortgage rates began climbing in 2022, according to the report. Sales of previously occupied homes have hovered close to a 4-million annual pace since 2023, well below the roughly 5.2-million annual norm, and they sank last year to a 30-year low.
Even with mortgage rates lower than they were a year ago, sales in early 2026 have lagged behind year-earlier levels, the report said. That includes home sales falling short of their year-earlier pace in January and February, as borrowing costs—still near the 6% area—continue to constrain demand.