Average 30-Year Mortgage Rate Crosses Into 5% Territory

That’s how high the average 30-year mortgage rate got Wednesday—a milestone for a measure that was under 4% less than two months ago, according to lender data provided to The Balance. 

Crossing into 5% territory for the first time since at least 2019 (our data doesn’t go back farther), the 30-year average shot up from 4.83% Tuesday, and has risen a full percentage point just since early February. It was only about 15 months ago that the pandemic economy had pushed mortgage rates to record lows (our measure was as low as 2.89% in December 2020), but the latest spike seems to have left those days in the dust.

The sharp uptick in mortgage rates is making refinancing less desirable and homebuying less affordable, particularly as home prices continue to rise. One silver lining may be a return to some kind of balance in the market, where price increases aren’t so steep because prospective buyers hold off and more people put their homes up for sale. 

Rates on fixed mortgages tend to move in the same direction as 10-year Treasury yields, which are at their highest since 2019 and have risen even more sharply since the Federal Reserve started raising its benchmark interest rate last week to fight inflation.

Have a question, comment, or story to share? You can reach Diccon at dhyatt@thebalance.com.