Mortgage rates rose from an average of 5.51% to 5.54% last week, Freddie Mac reported Thursday.
Freddie’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) found that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.54%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 2.78%.
“The housing market remains sluggish as mortgage rates inch up for a second consecutive week,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist.
“Consumer concerns about rising rates, inflation, and a potential recession are manifesting in softening demand. As a result of these factors, we expect house price appreciation to moderate noticeably.”
Mortgage loan applications are tumbling as buyers are priced out by the combination of increasing interest rates and sky-high home prices.
But the AEI Housing Center recently reported that home price appreciation is already falling, down 1.2% in June from the month prior and 0.6% YOY.
June single-family starts were down 19% since February and 16% YOY as homebuilder confidence tanked.
British economist Ian Shepherdson recently told Forbes that the U.S. housing market is in a “meltdown” and that homebuilder confidence, which is at a two-year low, will fall further still.
“Pretty soon, anyone who has bought a home in recent months will be sitting on a loss,” he said.
Additional findings from Thursday’s report:
- 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.75% with an average 0.8 point.
- A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 2.12%.
- 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 4.31% with an average 0.4 point.
- A year ago at this time, the 5-year ARM averaged 2.49%