Mortgage rates edge lower after Trump picks Bessent to lead Treasury
Mortgage rates were little changed this week as financial markets reacted to President-elect Donald Trump’s slate of Cabinet picks.
The average 30-year mortgage rate dropped slightly to 6.81% in the week from 6.84% a week earlier. Interest rates have been hovering in the 6.8% area for four weeks straight.
The 15-year mortgage rate rose to 6.1%, compared with 6.02% a week prior.
“Rates have been relatively flat over the last few weeks as the market waits for more clarity on specific economic policies,” Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said in a statement.
Ten-year Treasury yields, which closely track mortgage rates, moved sharply lower earlier this week after Trump selected hedge fund manager Scott Bessent to lead the Treasury Department. Bessent, who is well-connected on Wall Street and has been critical of the federal deficit, is seen as a potentially moderating force against some of Trump’s economic policy ideas.
But yields have been volatile. They rose on Tuesday after Trump pledged to enact tariffs on goods imported from Mexico, Canada, and China on his first day in office before falling back to pre-election levels on Wednesday morning. Policies like tariffs and tax cuts are widely seen as inflationary and would require interest rates to stay higher for longer to avoid overheating the economy.
Housing market activity has stayed somewhat resilient even as mortgage rates have risen from as low as 6.1% in late September. Pending home sales, a measure of housing contract activity tied to existing homes, jumped 2% in October from a month earlier. Mortgage applications also trended higher last week.
Claire Boston is a senior reporter for Yahoo Finance covering housing, mortgages, and home insurance.
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