Mortgage Forecast: Economic Uncertainty Could Keep Rates Close to 7% This Summer

Mortgage rates can change daily and even hourly. Tharon Green/CNET There's a growing consensus among housing market experts that average mortgage rates will stay above 6.5% this year. Uncertainty over the impact of President Trump’s economic policies continues to cause daily volatility in the mortgage market. On Tuesday, the average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 7.02%, according to Bankrate, compared to around 6.75% at the start of May. The increase followed a surge in Treasury yields in the bond market. Since the 30-year mortgage rate closely tracks the 10-year Treasury yield, we generally see higher rates for home loans when yields go up. Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at Bright MLS, said the uptick in Treasury yields can be attributed to rising federal government debt levels and Moody's recent downgrading of the US credit rating. Bond yields had been on the rise even before last week, fueled by a combination of risk factors, including the inflationary impact of tariffs ... Read full article.