Mortgage rates

The "Sell America" trade that gripped markets this month has left a potentially lasting dent in investors' willingness to hold the US government's longest-maturity debt, a mainstay of its deficit-financing toolkit.

While the 30-year rate landed near its level of a week ago, it ended up there only after political developments led to up-and-down swings in Treasurys.

It is quite likely March's drop in the Purchase Application Payment Index will be transitory as mortgage rates have increased since the start of April.

Mortgage delinquency rates improved during the month, but the share of borrowers late 90 days or more grew as FHA credit quality deteriorated.

Long-maturity Treasury yields tumbled Wednesday as part of a broader rally in dollar-denominated risk assets, after US President Donald Trump said he wasn't inclined to fire the head of the Federal Reserve and suggested tariffs on Chinese imports could drop.

US mortgage rates rose again last week, reaching the highest level since mid-February and further depressing the appetite to buy homes or refinance loans.

President Donald Trump's threats to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell have had a significant impact on financial markets, Goldman Sachs Chief Economist Jan Hatzius said.

The 30-year fixed rate mortgage average rose 21 basis points this week, lagging other indicators, which are all now lower than seven days ago.

The highly volatile interest rate environment will actually result in higher refinance mortgage volume than previous forecast for 2025 and 2026.

US mortgage rates jumped last week by the most since October on the back of heightened volatility in the Treasury market, causing a pullback in financing applications for home purchases and refinancing.