The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate surges to 7.63%, holding at highest level since 2000

The cost of financing a home surged again this week with the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate at its highest level since December 2000.

The average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan rose to 7.63% from 7.57% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.94%.

Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loan, also increased. The average rate rose to 6.92% from 6.89% last week. A year ago, it averaged 6.23%, Freddie Mac said.

As mortgage rates rise, they can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, limiting how much they can afford in a market already out of reach for many Americans. They also discourage homeowners who locked in far low rates two years ago from selling. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage is now more than double what it was two years ago, when it was just 3.09%.

This is the sixth consecutive week that mortgage rates have moved higher. The weekly average rate on a 30-year mortgage has remained above 7% since mid-August and is now at the highest level since Dec. 1, 2000, when it averaged 7.65%.

“Mortgage rates continued to approach 8% this week, further impacting affordability,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.

The combination of elevated rates and low home inventory has worsened the affordability crunch by keeping home prices near all-time highs even as sales of previously occupied U.S. homes have fallen 21% through the first nine months of this year compared to the same period in 2022.

As rates have marched higher, home loan applications have slumped to their lowest level since 1995 in recent weeks, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Mortgage rates have been climbing along with the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing loans. Investors’ expectations for future inflation, global demand for U.S. Treasurys and what the Fed does with interest rates can influence rates on home loans.

The central bank has already pulled its main interest rate to the highest level since 2001.

With rates nearing 8%, homebuyers are more limited in the amount they can afford to pay for a home, said Steve Probst, a loan officer at Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. in Freeport. While a low supply of houses for sale should keep prices stable, Probst expects local sellers will have fewer offers to choose from.

“It’ll lessen the lines for multiple offers on homes, that’s for sure,” Probst said. “It cuts out a lot more people in affordability.”

The number of home sales on Long Island fell 17% in September compared with the same month a year ago. Meanwhile, median home prices set records last month, at $735,000 in Nassau and $595,000 in Suffolk.
With Jonathan LaMantia