US 30-Year Mortgage Interest Rates [Chart]
Stubborn-as-a-mule mortgage interest rates continue to sit between 6 and 7%, driving some housing gridlock.
Hello Eggsters — This week we’re looking at U.S. mortgage rates and why they’re stuck at stubborn levels.
Below, we’ve charted the average U.S. 30-year mortgage rate since 2000.
Chart of the Week
Weekly Average US 30-Year Fixed Mortgage Rate Since 2000.
Each point on the line shows where weekly mortgage rates have landed — from record lows at 2.65% during the pandemic to today’s stubborn levels that are hovering between 6-7%.
Cracking it Open
From under 3% in 2020-2021, rates shot up in early 2022 as the Fed hiked to battle post-Covid surprise inflation.
For more than a year now, rates have hovered around 6.5–7.5%. That’s high enough to freeze many buyers out, but not high enough to break inflation’s back. Stalemate.
We’re In A Housing Chill: Owners are clinging to their low pandemic mortgages. Potential buyers balk at new costs. This leads to supply drying up, prices staying stubborn, and the housing market feeling like quicksand. And nobody likes quicksand.
Why it Matters
Housing is a huge slice of the economy. When rates stay high, mobility falls, construction slows, and families get stuck.
The Fed knows this. But if they cut mortgage interest rates too soon then inflation may come roaring back.
So we’re in a form of stalemate which isn’t great for the overall economy and it limits the mobility of both people and money.