U.S. Mortgage Rates Stay Near 6.7% as Treasury Yields Limit Relief for Buyers
U.S. mortgage rates remain close to 6.7% heading into Monday, Aug. 24, offering buyers only modest relief as elevated Treasury yields continue to keep borrowing costs high. The latest Freddie Mac data put the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate at 6.65%, while faster-moving daily lender data ended last week at 6.77%. Freddie Mac said the 30-year fixed rate fell from 6.67% a week earlier, marking its second consecutive weekly decline. The average 15-year fixed mortgage rate also edged down to 5.95% from 5.96%. However, the 30-year rate remains slightly above the 6.58% average recorded during the comparable week last year. Mortgage Rates Are Barely Different From a Year Ago The FRED chart puts the current mortgage-rate environment into a longer-term perspective. Rather than displaying the mortgage rate itself, the chart measures how many percentage points the 30-year fixed rate has changed from the same period one year earlier. U.S. 30-Year Fixed Mortgage Rate Year-Over-Year Change, 2021-2026. Source: Freddie Mac via FRED That year-over-year gap surged toward 4 percentage points in late 2022 as the Federal Reserves inflation fight rapidly pushed borrowing costs higher. The gap then narrowed through 2023 and 2024 and moved below zero for portions of late 2024, 2025 and 2026. By Aug. 20,









