Mortgage rates continued their upward trajectory this week, inching closer to 8% yet again as purchase demand sputters.
Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average rate for the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage has now hit 7.79%, up from 7.63% last week and from 7.08% a year ago.
The rate for a 15-year mortgage also climbed, averaging 7.03% after coming in last week at 6.92%. One year ago, the rate on a 15-year fixed note averaged 6.36%.
This is the seventh week in a row that rates have risen, marking the longest stretch of consecutive increases since spring 2022, Freddie Mac said.
“Rates have risen two full percentage points in 2023 alone and, as we head into Halloween, the impacts may scare potential homebuyers,” Freddie Mac chief economist Sam Khater said in a statement. “Purchase activity has slowed to a virtual standstill, affordability remains a significant hurdle for many and the only way to address it is lower rates and greater inventory.”
Economists now project 2023 will mark the slowest year for home sales since 2008, when the housing bubble burst.
The real estate brokerage reported that 16.3% of home purchase agreements in the U.S. were canceled last month, the highest rate in nearly a year.
Read More Here: Mortgage rates continue to climb toward 8%, home purchases now at ‘virtual standstill’: Freddie Mac
