Mortgage rates stayed essentially flat again last week, despite dreary economic data on job openings and the health of the manufacturing sector renewed investors’ fears about a recession.
The average 30-year mortgage rate was 6.64% through Wednesday, essentially unchanged from 6.65% a week earlier, according to Freddie Mac data. Fifteen-year mortgage rates dropped to 5.82%, from 5.89%.
Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said in a statement that the recent rate stability “is reassuring, and borrowers have responded with purchase application demand rising to the highest growth rate since late last year.”
But that stability might not last much longer. This week’s average covers a period largely before President Trump announced sweeping tariffs on US trading partners, sparking a deep stock market sell-off Thursday and flight-to-safety trade into Treasury bonds that sent yields sharply lower.
Learn more: What Trump’s tariffs mean for the economy and your wallet
As of Thursday morning, 10-year Treasury yields, which closely track mortgage rates, had fallen by more than 12 basis points to 4%.
But even before the tariff announcement, bond yields had been moving lower as investors sought safe-haven assets after a pair of new economic reports suggested the economy may be slowing.
On Tuesday, data showed that manufacturing activity contracted for the first time this year and prices rose amid tariff uncertainty. A separate report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that the job market is cooling, with openings dropping between January and February to hover near a four-year low.
Mortgage rates at current levels translated to mixed results for applications last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Applications to purchase a home rose 2% through Friday compared to a week earlier, while refinancing applications fell 6%.
Claire Boston is a Senior Reporter for Yahoo Finance covering housing, mortgages, and home insurance.
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