US mortgage rates top 7 percent, highest in over 20 years

Washington, Oct 27 (Prensa Latina) The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate topped 7% for the first time in over 20 years this week, rate of 30-year mortgages in the United States exceeded seven percent this week for the first time in two decades.

October 27, 2022
16:41

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average on the key 30-year rate jumped to 7.08% from 6.94% last week.

The figure accounts for a marked rise over the average rate on a long-term fixed mortgage a year ago at this same time, when it stood at 3.14%.

Meanwhile, the 15-year mortgage rate this week averaged 6.36%, up from 2.37% last year.

In the case of the five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM), the five-year ARM scored an average of 5.96%, up from an average of 2.56% in the same week in 2021.

According to Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater, “as inflation lingers, consumers are finding higher costs, leading to further declines in consumer confidence this month.”

In that context, many potential homebuyers are choosing to wait and see how the market will end up, pushing demand and home prices “even further down,” Khater noted.

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