April 1 (Reuters) – The interest rate on the most popular U.S. home loan jumped last week to the highest since August, as rising oil prices from the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran fueled inflation fears and drove up yields on the Treasury bonds that lenders widely use as benchmarks for setting mortgage rates.
The Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday the contract rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage rose 14 basis points to 6.57% in the week ended March 27.
The last time the weekly rise was bigger was in the immediate aftermath of President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement of larger-than-expected global tariffs.
Mortgage rates have climbed by 48 basis points since the United States and Israel launched the war on February 28.
Refinancing applications tumbled 17.3%, the MBA said Wednesday. Applications for loans to purchase a property dropped a comparatively mild 2.6%.
“The headwinds of higher rates are being offset somewhat by the buyer’s market in many parts of the country – there are more homes for sale than buyers have seen in some time,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s chief economist. “However, the shocks of the jump in rates and the increase in overall economic uncertainty are likely having an impact on buyer confidence.”
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note, the government security most influential to mortgage rates, has risen as fighting in the Middle East effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, passageway for about a fifth of the world’s oil trade. Benchmark global crude oil prices are now trading around $118 a barrel, up more than 50% from before the start of the Iran war.
The 10-year Treasury yield has fallen over the last two trading days on hopes for a possible off-ramp to the hostilities, but late Tuesday was still up about 35 basis points on the month, at 4.32%.
(Reporting by Ann Saphir; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
Comments