Mortgage rates continued to rise this week, with the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage increasing to 6.77%, up from 6.64% last week and up from 6.32% a year ago, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
“On the heels of consumer prices rising more than expected, mortgage rates increased this week,” says Sam Khater, chief economist for Freddie Mac, in a statement. “The economy has been performing well so far this year and rates may stay higher for longer, potentially slowing the spring homebuying season. According to our data, mortgage applications to buy a home so far in 2024 are down in more than half of all states compared to a year earlier.”
As of February 15, the average rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.12%, up from 5.90% last week and up from 5.51% a year ago.
It was the second consecutive week that mortgage rates increased.
As a result of the slight increase in rates two weeks ago, mortgage application volume fell 2.3%, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Applications Survey.
For the week ended February 9, applications for refinances decreased 2% compared with the previous week but were up 12% compared with the same week one year earlier. Applications for purchases decreased 3% compared with the previous week and were down 12% compared with the same week one year ago.
Photo: Alison Pang