Mortgage Rates Surging
Mortgage rates are surging, foiling homebuyers' best-laid plans
Surging mortgage rates are threatening to wash out the spring homebuying season.
The rate on a conventional 30-year home loan rose to 6.46%, its highest level since September 2025, Freddie Mac said Thursday. Borrowing costs have jumped sharply in recent weeks after having dipped below 6% in late February. The Iran war is exerting further upward pressure on rates by stoking inflation concerns and driving up government bond yields, according to economists. Mortgage rates tend to track the 10-year Treasury bond.
For aspiring homeowners, the upsurge in borrowing costs is a major headache.
"Before this war, it was like, it could be a good buyer's time now," said Rachel Marks, a 41-year-old Brooklyn, New York, resident who recently started searching for a home. "Now it's like, nope, stay away because everything is just going up, up, up."
As of Thursday, the 10-year Treasury yield was 4.26%, up from 3.96% just before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on February 28.
"When inflation goes up, investors in bonds — and that includes mortgage-backed securities — demand a higher return to compensate them for that increase," explained Mike Fratantoni, chief economist at the Mortgage Bankers
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