The average long-term US mortgage rate surges to 7.57%, holding at highest level since 2000
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Home loan borrowing costs rose for the fifth straight week, keeping the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate at its highest level in more than two decades and taking another bite out of prospective homebuyers' purchasing power.
The average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan rose to 7.57% from 7.49% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.92%.
Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loan, also increased. The average rate rose to 6.89% from 6.78% last week. A year ago, it averaged 6.09%, Freddie Mac said.
High rates can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, limiting how much they can afford in a market already out of reach for many Americans. They also discourage homeowners who locked in rock-bottom rates two years ago from selling. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage is now more than double what it was two years ago, when it was just 3.05%.
The average rate on a 30-year home loan climbed above 6% in September 2022 and has remained above that threshold since. This marks the first 12-month period that the benchmark mortgage rate has been at 6% or higher since the early 2000s. It's now at the highest level since Dec. 1, 2000, when it averaged 7.65%.
The elevated rates combined with a near-historic low level of homes for sale nationally has worsened homebuyers' affordability crunch by keeping home prices near all-time highs even as sales of previously occupied U.S. homes have fallen 21% through the first eight months of this year versus the same stretch in 2022.
“Though buyers have shown signs of adjusting to the higher-rate environment, limited inventory has kept home prices elevated, cutting further into the buying power of...
