Mortgage rates were essentially unchanged this week, despite a stock market rout that sent skittish investors rushing into safe-haven assets.
The average 30-year mortgage rate was 6.95% this week through Wednesday, compared with 6.96% a week earlier, according to Freddie Mac data. 15-year mortgage rates edged down to 6.12%, from 6.16%.
“Driven by these higher rates and a persistent supply shortage, affordability hurdles still exist for many homebuyers, and a significant number of them remain on the sidelines,” Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said in a statement.
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Rates were essentially unchanged even after a market-wide sell-off on Monday that saw investors dumping US technology stocks following the release of a new, cheap artificial intelligence model from the Chinese startup DeepSeek and pile into assets like US Treasurys.
Treasury yields are closely linked to mortgage rates, and Monday’s move sent yields sharply lower, though they rose somewhat on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve held off on further benchmark interest rate cuts to assess inflation.
“With the Fed on hold, we do expect that longer-term rates, including mortgage rates, will also stay within a narrow range for the foreseeable future,” Mike Fratantoni, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association, said in a statement.
There are signs that the higher rates are weighing on sales. Housing contract activity fell 5.5% in December from a month earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors. The steepest drops came in high-priced markets like the West and the Northeast, where elevated rates take the biggest bite out of affordability.
Read more: 2025 housing market: Is it a good time to buy a house?
Claire Boston is a senior reporter for Yahoo Finance covering housing, mortgages, and home insurance.
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