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(Bloomberg) — Mortgage rates in the US rose for a second straight week.
The average for a 30-year, fixed loan was 6.48%, up from 6.42% last week and the highest since early December, Freddie Mac (OTC:) said in a statement Thursday.
Seesawing loan costs aren’t likely to inspire confidence in would-be homebuyers, who have been pulling away from the market for months. With demand in a slump, sellers also are holding back, reluctant to accept discounts or to give up cheap mortgages they locked in before the Federal Reserve started hiking its benchmark interest rate last year.
“Mortgage application activity sunk to a quarter century low this week as high mortgage rates continue to weaken the housing market,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.
With inflation still running hotter than the central bank would like, policymakers last month affirmed their commitment to monetary tightening and signaled that rates will probably stay elevated for some time, according to meeting minutes released Wednesday.
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.
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