US 30-Year Mortgage Rate Climbs to 7.28% in Sixth Straight Weekly Increase
The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage in the United States climbed to 7.28 percent this week, Freddie Mac reported Thursday, a development that further complicates the path to homeownership for would-be buyers.
Compared with the prior week, the rate moved up by a quarter of a percentage point. That represents the sixth week in a row of increases and the biggest week-over-week rise since late September 2022, when the average rate jumped from 6.29 percent to 6.7 percent.
In late February, for the week that ended on Feb. 26 — just before the United States and Israel entered a war with Iran — the average 30-year mortgage rate stood at 5.98 percent.
Mortgage rates tend to move in tandem with the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note, which reached a 24-year intraday high on Thursday. The note surpassed 5.34 percent in the morning before pulling back, trading around 5.24 percent by late afternoon.
Economic uncertainty stemming from the Iran war, along with growing government debt, has pushed bond yields higher. The U.S. national debt currently stands at approximately $40.1 trillion.
According to Freddie Mac, the average 30-year mortgage rate last week surpassed 7 percent for the first time since the week ending Jan. 16, 2025, which was just days before President Trump began his second term.
With inflation persistently elevated — the personal consumption expenditures price index showed a 3.4 percent reading in August — Trump and the Republican Party are facing difficult conditions as the midterm elections approach.
Analysts see little relief on the horizon for mortgage rates. Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, said last month that Americans should prepare for 7 percent mortgage rates to become the “new normal.”
In a statement, Yun added, “Mortgage rates can come down once oil prices retreat and with a credible plan to reduce the budget deficit.”
For the 15-year mortgage, the average rate this week was 6.6 percent, up from 6.42 percent a week earlier and 5.44 percent in late February, according to Freddie Mac.
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