10-year Treasury yield at 4.98% after surging above 5.30% this month
The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 7.24% from 7.32% last week, reaching its lowest level in more than a month, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. One year ago, the average rate was 6.17%.
Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, often sought by borrowers refinancing a home loan, also fell this week. That average rate dipped to 6.60% from 6.68% last week; a year ago, it was at 5.41%.
Inflation, Federal Reserve policy and bond-market investors’ expectations for the economy influence rates on home loans, among other factors. Mortgage rates generally follow the trajectory of the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans.
The yield was at 4.98% at midday on the bond market Thursday. It surged to more than 5.30% earlier this month and remains well above its 3.97% level from before the war with Iran.
Federal Reserve Economic Data, or FRED, recorded the 30-year mortgage rate at 7.32% and the 10-year Treasury yield at 4.99% as of Oct. 29.