US mortgage rates increase to 6.73%, highest since late July

US MORTGAGE rates rose to the highest level since July, leading to a fifth straight weekly decline in refinancing activity.

The contract rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage rose 21 basis points to 6.73 per cent in the week ended Oct 25, according to Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) data released on Wednesday (Oct 30). In the last four weeks, the rate has risen nearly 60 basis points, the most since March 2023.

MBA’s gauge of refinancing applications decreased 6.3 per cent last week to the lowest since July. The stretch of declines is the longest in more than a year.

While the index of home purchases rose for the first time in four weeks, rising mortgage rates and still-elevated asking prices are limiting optimism that the housing market can stage a speedy recovery.

Mortgage rates track US Treasury yields, which have jumped this month on signs of steady economic growth and some doubt whether Federal Reserve policymakers will deliver two quarter-point interest-rate cuts by the end of the year as officials had projected.

The MBA survey, which has been conducted weekly since 1990, uses responses from mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts. The data cover more than 75 per cent of all retail residential mortgage applications in the US. BLOOMBERG