U.S. 30-year fixed mortgage interest rates rose to 7.28%, the highest level since November 2023

China News Service, Washington, October 1 (Reporter Sha Hanting) US housing finance institution Freddie Mac released data on October 1, local time, showing that the average interest rate on 30-year fixed mortgage loans in the United States rose to 7.28%, the highest since November 22, 2023.

Data showed that the average interest rate on 30-year fixed mortgages in the United States rose to 7.28% that day. This data has increased for six consecutive weeks. The figure was 7.03% a week ago and 6.34% a year ago.

Since the beginning of this year, the average 30-year fixed mortgage interest rate in the United States dropped to a three-year low of 5.98% on February 26. Since then, it has shown an overall upward trend for several consecutive months due to the impact of the war in Iran.

U.S. mortgage interest rates are affected by factors such as the Federal Reserve's federal funds rate and the U.S. 10-year Treasury bond yield. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond rose to 5.27% on October 1, which is much higher than the 3.97% value before the war in Iran.

US media believe that the rise in mortgage interest rates will weaken the purchasing power of potential home buyers, causing more potential home buyers to choose to wait and see, and the downturn in the real estate market will continue.

According to data released by the Mortgage Bankers Association on September 30, the number of mortgage loan applications (including home purchase loans or refinancing of existing mortgages) in the week ending September 25 decreased by 6% from the previous week. This data has declined for 4 consecutive weeks.

The National Association of Realtors recently released data showing that sales of existing homes in the United States fell to 3.98 million units at an annual rate in August this year, a decrease of 2% month-on-month and a year-on-year decrease of 1.2%.

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