Mortgage rates surge once again

Mortgage rates spike again to 7.28 percent

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose to 7.28 percent this week, worsening conditions for prospective homebuyers.

The average 30-year mortgage rate increased by a quarter of a percentage point from last week, according to data released Thursday by Freddie Mac.

This marks the sixth consecutive weekly rise, and the largest week-to-week increase since late September 2022 — when the average rate spiked from 6.29 percent to 6.7 percent.

For the week ending on Feb. 26, right before the U.S. and Israel launched the war with Iran, the average 30-year mortgage rate was 5.98 percent .

The 30-year mortgage rate tracks closely with the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond, which hit a during intraday trading Thursday. The note topped 5.34 percent in the morning but has since sunk down and is trading at about 5.24 percent as of the late afternoon.

Bond yields have spiked due to economic uncertainty driven by the Iran war and mounting government debt. The U.S. national debt is roughly $40.1 trillion .

The average 30-year mortgage rate, as reported by Freddie Mac, exceeded 7 percent last week for the first time since the week ending on Jan. 16, 2025, days before President Trump returned to office.

Persistent inflation, which was 3.4 percent in August , as measured by the personal consumption expenditures price index, has handed Trump and the GOP a tough set of conditions heading into the midterms.

Analysts do not expect mortgage rates to lower anytime soon, either. Lawrence Yun, the chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, said last month Americans can expect 7 percent mortgage rates as the “new normal.”

Yun added in a statement, “Mortgage rates can come down once oil prices retreat and with a credible plan to reduce the budget deficit.”

As for the shorter-term 15-year mortgage, the average rate this week was 6.6 percent , up from 6.42 percent last week and 5.44 percent in late February, Freddie Mac reported.

Welcome to The Hill’s Business & Economy newsletter , I’m Max Rego — covering the intersection of Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.

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Business and economic news we’ve flagged from other outlets:

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