US mortgage rates rise for first time in three weeks, adding pressure to housing affordability

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate climbed to 6.66%, according to Freddie Mac’s latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey published on August 27. It’s the first increase in three weeks, and while the move from 6.65% might look like a rounding error, it signals that the brief downward drift in borrowing costs has stalled. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage saw a slightly larger jump, rising to 5.98% from 5.95% the prior week. A narrow band with nowhere to go but sideways Throughout August, mortgage rates have been stuck in a tight range within the mid-6% territory. That range has hovered near the higher end of recent trends, sitting uncomfortably close to September’s earlier peak of 6.69%. The Mortgage Bankers Association observed a corresponding dip in mortgage application volumes during the same period. Refinance demand, which is particularly sensitive to rate fluctuations, took the biggest hit. At current rates, monthly payments on a median-priced home are hundreds of dollars higher than they would be at the sub-5% rates that millions of existing homeowners locked in during 2020 and 2021. That gap creates a powerful incentive to stay put, which constrains inventory and keeps the ma...