(Bloomberg) -- Mortgage rates in the US rose for a second straight week, reaching the highest level in more than a month.
The average for a 30-year, fixed loan was 6.32%, up from 6.12% last week, Freddie Mac (OTC:FMCC) said in a statement Thursday.
Benchmark Treasury yields have been climbing recently on a series of solid economic reports. That’s translated into higher borrowing costs for homebuyers just as the market’s key spring selling season gets underway. With a measure of consumer prices coming in hotter than expected for January, there’s extra pressure on the Federal Reserve to step up its efforts to tame inflation with rate hikes.
Read more: US Economy Keeps Charging Ahead, Adding Pressure on Fed to Hike
For now, mortgage rates are still down some after topping 7% in November. That’s helped give homebuilders a reason for optimism about a potential pickup in sales and prospective-buyer traffic. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo sentiment index rose this month by the most since mid-2020, data released Wednesday show.
But affordability remains a hurdle for many Americans who’d like to buy a home. Borrowing costs are considerably higher than a year ago, when the 30-year average was 3.92%, and competition for tight supplies of listings throughout much of the country is keeping prices elevated.
The challenges in the market are holding back US housing starts, which dropped for a fifth straight month in January, government data showed Thursday. It was the longest streak of declines since 2009.
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