U.S. mortgage interest rates remain at highest level since November - MBA

Applied Energetics

01/03/2023 12:00

March 1 (Reuters) - The average interest rate on the
most popular U.S. home loan remained last week at its highest
level since November as stronger-than-expected readings on
inflation, job gains and consumer spending caused investors to
hike their bets that the Federal Reserve will have to keep
raising its policy rate through the summer.
    The average contract rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage
increased by 9 basis points to 6.71% for the week ended Feb. 24,
 data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) showed on
Wednesday, a third weekly rise in mortgage rates after several
weeks of declines. 
    That rate has risen more than 50 basis points over the past
month. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note  US10YT=RR  acts
as a benchmark for mortgage rates.
    Mortgage rates soared to more than 7% last October as the
U.S. central bank raised its benchmark policy rate in 2022 at
the fastest pace in 40 years, but began to ebb after signs late
last year that inflation was on the wane. The interest
rate-sensitive housing sector has borne the brunt of the Fed's
actions.
    The rise in mortgage rates meant fewer would-be purchasers.
The MBA's Market Composite Index, a measure of overall mortgage
loan application volume, fell 5.7% from a week earlier. The
MBA's Purchase Composite Index, a measure of all mortgage loan
applications for purchase of a single family home, declined 5.6%
from the prior week.

    

 (Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; 
Editing by Bernadette Baum)
 ((Lindsay.Dunsmuir@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 384 8221;))