If you thought mortgages have become expensive, brace youꦿrself.

The average rate offered for a 30-year fixed mortgage surged this week to 7.23% from 7.09% the week before, reaching the highest level since 2001, mortgage giant Freddie Mac said Thursday.

Mortgage rates have more than doubled since the beginning of 2022, tracking a surge 🌄in yields on 10-year Treasury notes, which influence the rates that lenders offer for mortgages.

Yields have been pushed upward by the Federal Reserve’s months-long campaign of interest rate hikes, which are intended to cool inflation by slowing the economy. Yields on 10-year Treasurys rose to their highest point since 2007 this week amid investor concerns that the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:economy is staying resilient. That could spur the Fed to keep its benchmark interest rate—澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:currently at itsꩲ highest since 2001—澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:higher for longer.

Markets are also bracing for a policy speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Friday, which could signal whether the Fed will push rates even highe𝕴r. 

“Stronger-than-expected economic data in recent months, uncertainty over the path forward of real interest rates, and rising risks of higher inflation have continued to cause longer-term yields and mortgage rates to move higher,” Orphe Divounguy, senior macroeconomist at Zillow Home Loans, said in a commentary Wednesday, in a statement ahead of Freddie Mac’s data. 

Ballooning mortgage rates have pushed average costs to purchase a home out of reach for 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:all but high-income households. With costs soaring out of sight, the volume of applications for new mortgages 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:fell to its lowest since 1995, the Mortgage Bankers Association said this week.