Mortgage rates edge higher

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.94% with an average 0.9 point as of Thursday, up from 6.92% a week ago, according to government-sponsored home mortgage packager Freddie Mac. A year ago at this time, the 30-year rate averaged 3.09%.

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.23% with an average 1.1 point, up from last week when it averaged 6.09%. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 2.33%.

The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 5.71% with an average 0.4 point, down from last week when it averaged 5.81%. A year ago at this time, the 5-year ARM averaged 2.54%.

"Mortgage rates slowed their upward trajectory this week," said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist. "The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage continues to remain just shy of seven percent and is adversely impacting the housing market in the form of declining demand."

"Additionally, homebuilder confidence has dropped to half what it was just six months ago and construction, particularly single-family residential construction, continues to slow down."

EXISTING HOME SALES TUMBLE TO A 10-YEAR LOW IN SEPTEMBER AS MORTGAGE RATES SKYROCKET

Existing home sales decline

The report comes as sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell in September for the eighth month in a row, matching the pre-pandemic sales pace from 10 years ago, as house hunters faced sharply higher mortgage rates, higher home prices and a still tight supply of properties on the market.

The National Association of Realtors said Thursday that existing home sales fell 1.5% last month from August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.71 million. That's slightly higher than what economists were expecting, according to FactSet.

The housing market has been slowing as average long-term U.S. mortgage rates have doubled from a year ago, making homes less affordable.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.