Mortgage rates rise following a surge in Treasury yields
Mortgage
rates
rose
this
week
as
the
yield
on
the
benchmark
10-year
Treasury
note
inched
up.
As
of
Monday,
the
yield
on
the
10-year
U.S.
Treasury
note
was
about
4.25%,
according
to
Tradeweb,
up
from
3.86%
at
the
end
of
last
year.
As
a
result,
HousingWire’s
Mortgage
Rates
Center
showed
the
average
30-year
fixed
rate
for
conventional
loans
at
7.16%
on
Tuesday,
up
from
7.07%
one
week
earlier.
At
the
same
time
one
year
ago,
the
30-year
fixed
rate
averaged
6.53%.
Meanwhile,
the
15-year
fixed
rate
averaged
6.51%
on
Tuesday,
up
from
6.5%
one
week
earlier.
“The
10-year
yield
is
up
a
few
basis
points
this
week
as
the
market
gets
ready
to
digest
the
next
big
piece
of
economic
data:
Friday’s
PCE
inflation
report.
As
the
10-year
yield
moves
higher,
mortgage
pricing
should
move
with
it,
but
the
mortgage
spreads
are
having
a
good
week,
which
is
encouraging
news,”
HousingWire
lead
analyst
Logan
Mohtashami
said.
“The
following
week,
we
have
jobs
week
with
four
economic
labor
reports
for
the
bond
market
to
focus
on.”
As
of
March
22,
there
were
513,000
single-family
homes
unsold
on
the
market,
up
1.1%
from
the
week
prior
and
up
24%
from
the
same
week
one
year
ago.
At
the
same
period
last
year,
inventory
was
declining,
according
to
Mike
Simonsen,
founder
and
president
of
Altos
Research.
“We’ll
finish
the
year
with
over
600,000
homes
on
the
market
unless
rates
reverse
and
fall
quickly,”
Simonsen
wrote
on
Monday.
More
inventory
on
the
market
means
that
more
sales
can
take
place.
But,
on
the
other
hand,
it
can
also
mean
that
demand
is
weakening.
“The
longer
mortgage
rates
stay
higher,
the
more
inventory
will
grow
closer
to
the
old
levels,”
Simonsen
wrote.
“If
you’re
a
homebuyer
and
you’re
waiting
for
mortgage
rates
to
fall
before
you
swoop
in
for
a
deal,
recognize
that
even
slightly
lower
rates
will
spur
demand
more
than
supply
so
inventory
will
start
falling
and
selection
and
competition
will
be
worse.”
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