Mortgage rates

Investors face yet another bumpy start to the trading week, although it's mounting concern over US debt rather than tariffs likely generating the volatility this time.

The 30-year FRM remained under 7% for the 17th consecutive week, Freddie Mac said, but the 10-year Treasury at one point was up over 25 basis points.

Houses in 85% of the nation's metropolitan areas are considered overvalued, with more than half of those by 10% or above, Fitch Ratings found.

US corporations with over a trillion in assets snapped up an unprecedented amount of short-term Treasuries when President Donald Trump announced a 90-day delay for most of his "Liberation Day" tariffs, according to Clearwater Analytics.

The increase in purchase mortgage rate lock volume provides support for those looking for a strong Spring market this year, Optimal Blue found.

All of those surveyed by Wolters Kluwer for its May Blue Chip Economic Indicators report ruled out the possibility the Fed could raise short-term rates.

The jobs report and FOMC meeting caused some movement but rates ended up where they started; but any unexpected news could result in swift changes either way.

Monetary policy is on track to loosen later rather than sooner. Housing finance firms may look more to home equity until or unless a change revives activity.

Industry payrolls wavered in a tepid buying season in which total employment has been better than expected given government cuts.

Pricing on the 30-year fixed rate mortgage retreated this week as investors digested some economic news, including a GDP contraction in the first quarter.

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.