Rates for home loans surged amid evidence that higher borrowing costs and financial and economic uncertainty are holding back the housing market. In the week ending April 17, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.83%, Freddie Mac announced. That’s up from 6.62% last week and marks the biggest one-week jump since last August.
Those figures don’t include fees or points, and rates in some parts of the country may be higher or lower than the national average.
Mortgage rates follow the same trajectory as the 10-year U.S. Treasury note, which sold off fiercely at the beginning of April. When bond prices fall, yields – rates – rise, and vice versa. Investors dumped U.S. government bonds after several days of tariff escalation, giving the 10-year its biggest one-day gain in decades.
Some of the anxiety in financial markets has dissipated as the White House has backed off some of its earlier demands, but it’s likely some of the damage has already been done in the housing market.
Also on April 17, the government reported that homebuilder’s broke ground on fewer homes in March than in February. The number of “housing starts” was also lower than analysts had forecast. Economists don’t just watch the pace of homebuilding activity because it’s important for the housing market: residential construction, especially for single-family homes, is an important source of employment, and has ripple effects through the economy.
"The recent reversal in mortgage rates presents new challenges for buyers," said Kara Ng, senior economist at Zillow Home Loans, in a statement. "Smaller stock portfolios may make high down payments more difficult to reach. Moreover, consumers are feeling anxious about the economy and the rising cost of living, potentially leading them to adopt a 'wait and see' approach regarding significant purchases like homes."
