(Reuters) – The interest rate for the most popular U.S. home loan jumped last week to 6.73%, its highest since July, adding to headwinds for the housing market even as the Federal Reserve looks set to further lower its target for short-term borrowing costs.
The average contract rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose 21 basis points in the week ended Oct. 25, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday.
The main home-loan rate is now 60 basis points above where it was immediately after the Fed’s mid-September meeting, when the central bank made an initial half percentage point cut to the policy interest rate and signaled more reductions to come.
Mortgage rates had been falling on anticipation of the Fed’s move, pumping new life into the housing market. Contracts to buy previously owned homes jumped by the most in four years in September, the National Association of Realtors reported on Wednesday. Pending sales turn into actual sales a month or two later.
But almost immediately after the Fed’s September meeting, home loan rates began climbing again, as stronger-than-expected data including a jump in spending and big job gains allayed concerns about a recession and fueled expectations that the Fed would cut rates more slowly. A report Wednesday showing consumer and business spending bolstered economic growth in the most recent quarter also reinforced that view.
In addition, traders have been piling into bets that both inflation and interest rates could stay high if Donald Trump takes the White House and his Republican party takes control of Congress in next week’s close fought elections. U.S. 10-year Treasury yields, which mortgage rates track closely, hit a nearly four-month high on Tuesday.
Refinancing applications slumped last week, the MBA said, and now account for just 43.1% of total mortgage applications. That’s below the historic median of 48%.
