Mortgage rates rise, hitting demand
Kudlow panelists Steve Forbes, David Bahnsen and Jackie DeAngelis explore the state of the US economy heading into the new year.
Mortgage rates rose this week, dampening overall demand as more Americans turned away from refinancing.
Freddie Mac’s latest primary mortgage market survey, released Thursday, showed that the average interest rate on the benchmark 30 year fixed mortgage jumped to 6.72%, compared to the previous week’s 6.6%. The average interest rate for a 30-year loan was 6.67% a year ago.

Mortgage rates rose this week, hovering around the same spot as a year ago. (Getty Images/Getty Images)
“Mortgage rates have reached the same average this week as they have this time in 2023,” said Sam Cutter, chief economist at Freddie Mac are slowly digesting these high interest rates and are gradually ready to move forward with buying a home, resulting in additional buying activity.”
The average 15-year fixed mortgage rate rose to 5.92 percent from 5.84 percent last week.The 15-year fixed rate averaged 5.95 percent a year ago.
CREATE A FOX BUSINESS WITH A QUICK CLICK HERE!
It Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported Wednesday that mortgage applications overall fell 0.7% on a seasonally adjusted basis from a week earlier, thanks to rising interest rates, which led to a 3% drop in refinancing applications.