A “for sale” sign is in a house in Miami, Florida, American on April 16, 2025.
Marco Bello | Reuters
After having evolved in a narrow range for several weeks, the mortgage rates decided decidedly more last week. This caused a 5.1% drop in mortgage requests compared to the previous week, according to the seasonal adjusted index of the Bankers Association.
The average interest rate of the contract for mortgage loans fixed at 30 years with compliant loan sales, $ 806,500, increased to 6.92%against 6.86%, with points passing to 0.69 against 0.68, including original fees, for loans with a 20%deposit. This rate was only 9 base points lower than the same week a year ago.
“Mortgage rates have jumped at their highest level since February of last week, investors concerned by the increase in inflation and the impact of the increase in deficits and debt,” said Mike Fratantoni, Vice-President Director and Chief Economist in MBA.
Requests for a mortgage to buy a house, which had increased for a few weeks, dropped by 5% for the week and were 13% higher than the same week a year ago. Buyers see much more registration on the market than they even did it a few months ago, but higher interest rates, as well as growing concerns about the state of the economy and inflation, have cooled the generally occupied spring season.
Requests for refinancing a mortgage also dropped 5% for the week and were 27% higher than the same week a year ago. With prices now almost the same as a year ago and even two years ago, there are fewer and fewer borrowers who can benefit from refinancing.
