Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates inched up this week ahead of another expected rate increase by the Federal Reserve when it meets early next month.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average on the key 30-year rate ticked up this week to 6.94% from 6.92% last week. Last year at this time, the rate was 3.09%.
The Fed’s aggressive action has stalled a housing sector that — outside of the onset of the pandemic — has been hot for years. Sales fell 23.8% from September last year, and are now at the slowest annual pace since September 2012, excluding the steep slowdown in sales that occurred in May 2020 near the start of the pandemic.
Late in September, the Federal Reserve bumped its benchmark borrowing rate by another three-quarters of a point in an effort to constrain the economy and tame inflation. It was the Fed’s fifth increase this year and third consecutive 0.75 percentage point increase. The Fed’s next two-day policy meeting opens Nov. 1, with most economists expecting another big three-quarters of a point hike.