The U.S. home market continues to put new challenges in front of homebuyers. The mortgage rates have made another jump and now find themselves at 5.81 percent on the 30-year fixed mortgage, according to a report shared by Freddie Mac.
The figure represents a 0.03 increase on last week’s 5.78 percent mortgage rate and 2.79 points jump compared to the same period last year. The mortgage rates are now running at their highest since late 2008.
According to Freddie Mac’s chief economist Sam Khater, the increased rates will not have a major impact on the interest of homebuyers, but the demand won’t be near as close as in some previous years.
“The combination of rising rates and high home prices is the likely driver of recent declines in existing home sales,” Khater said in a statement. “However, in reality, many potential homebuyers are still interested in purchasing a home, keeping the market competitive but leveling off the last two years of red-hot activity.”
Home sales in the U.S. have recently reached a two-year low. National Association of Realtors released a report earlier this week that shows a 3.4 percent dip in sales in May. The data also showed that 5.41 million units had been sold compared to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.49 million units in early 2022.