Mortgage rates rise again amid election volatility

Mortgage rates rose for a sixth consecutive week, following Treasury yields as they climbed higher through the presidential election.

The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 6.79% through Wednesday, up from 6.72% a week earlier, according to Freddie Mac data. The average 15-year fixed-rate mortgage was essentially unchanged, to 6% from 5.99%.

Mortgage rates typically mirror 10-year Treasury yields, which rose quickly in recent weeks as traders grew increasingly confident that former President Donald Trump would win Tuesday’s election and implement inflationary policies like tariffs.

Bond yields surged an additional 16 basis points on Wednesday following Trump’s victory, before giving back some of their increase on Thursday to yield around 4.36%.

The Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates this afternoon, a move that is unlikely to affect mortgage rates in the coming weeks.

Still, many housing market experts now expect mortgage rates to stay higher for longer. Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist of Bright MLS, said she still expects rates to come down from current levels, but thinks they’ll be volatile and could stay above 6% for all of next year.

“Rates will probably stay a little bit more elevated than we might have expected,” Sturtevant said.

Higher rates also chilled housing activity for the sixth straight week. Applications to purchase a home were down 5% from a week earlier, while refinancings dropped 19%, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

“It is clear purchase demand is very sensitive to mortgage rates in the current market environment,” Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said in a statement. “As soon as rates began to rise in early October, purchase applications fell and over the last month have declined 10 percent.”

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