Overview
- Total mortgage applications fell 1.9% last week, with refinance activity down 3% week over week but still 151% higher than a year ago, according to MBA data.
- The average 30-year fixed rate is holding near the low-6% range, with Freddie Mac at 6.17% and MBA’s weekly contract rate at 6.31%.
- Rates briefly hit a 13‑month low before the Oct. 29 Fed decision, then moved higher after Chair Jerome Powell indicated a December cut is not assured, reflecting a rise in the 10‑year Treasury yield near 4.0%.
- Housing economists stress that borrowers cannot reliably time rate moves and advise shopping lenders, locking a suitable offer, and planning to refinance if materially lower rates arrive.
- Affordability efforts are developing as the FHFA reviews loan‑level price adjustments, and NAR estimates a 6% mortgage rate would make the median‑priced home affordable to about 5.5 million more households.