The average rate on a 30‑year fixed mortgage climbed to 6.37% this week, mortgage‑buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday, rising for the second straight week and matching a level the market last saw a month ago. The 15‑year fixed rate, popular among homeowners refinancing their loans, rose to 5.72% from 5.64% the prior week. Both moves reflect renewed bond‑market turbulence as the 10‑year Treasury yield — the effective price floor for mortgage debt — pushed to 4.37% in midday trading Thursday, a sharp increase from the 3.97% yield recorded in late February, before the war with Iran drove oil prices higher and intensified inflation expectations.
The climbing yields have erased a brief window this winter when the 30‑year rate slipped just under 6%, the lowest since late 2022. It hasn’t fallen back below that mark since. “The expectation of rates below 6% this spring has disappeared, and buyers and sellers likely will face rates in the mid‑6% range into the summer,” said Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at Bright MLS.
That trajectory has weakened a spring homebuying season that normally powers the housing market. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes trailed year‑earlier levels during the first three months of the year, extending a national slump that began in 2022 when mortgage rates first surged from pandemic‑era lows. Buyers who remain in the market, however, are finding more favorable conditions in many areas: the number of homes for sale rose 4.6% from a year earlier last month, according to Realtor.com, and properties are taking longer to sell. Many sellers have responded by cutting their asking prices, which fell in April for the sixth consecutive month.