{"id":94620,"date":"2026-09-26T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T06:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.opinionpublica.tv\/portada\/?p=94620"},"modified":"2026-09-25T13:35:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T19:35:15","slug":"mortgage-rates-hit-7-as-iran-war-fallout-crushes-a-weak-housing-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.opinionpublica.tv\/portada\/mortgage-rates-hit-7-as-iran-war-fallout-crushes-a-weak-housing-market\/","title":{"rendered":"Mortgage rates hit 7% as Iran war fallout crushes a weak housing market"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Mortgage<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mortgage rates jumped to 7 percent this week for the first time since January 2025, squeezing housing affordability when many Americans are grappling with higher energy costs and economic uncertainty brought on by the war with Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The average 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage rate, the most common home loan in the United States, rose to 7.03 percent, up from 6.3 percent a year ago, the mortgage giant Freddie Mac said Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mortgage rates fell below 6 percent in late February, offering a glimmer of hope that the housing market was recovering from a yearslong slog. But they began steadily rising again after the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran on Feb. 28.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA move from 6 to 7 is a big change,\u201d said Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, a finance professor at Columbia University\u2019s Graduate School of Business, \u201cand it will further dampen an already weak housing market.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since war broke out in the Middle East, oil shipments from the Persian Gulf have dwindled, pushing up prices for energy products like gasoline, diesel fuel and heating oil. Economists worry that higher energy prices caused by the war will spread to other parts of the U.S. economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those concerns have materialized in the government bond market, which underpins mortgage rates. The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond \u2014 a benchmark for a range of consumer borrowing costs \u2014 has climbed above 5 percent, a level not seen since before the global financial crisis two decades ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall inflation has remained stubbornly elevated, at an annual pace of 3.4 percent in August, prompting the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Higher mortgage rates in turn are weighing on a moribund housing market. Sales of existing homes fell 2 percent in August from July and are at their lowest level since June last year, the National Association of Realtors reported. Home prices rose 1.5 percent annually in June, up from a 1.2 percent annual gain the previous month, according to Cotality, a housing market data provider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNobody can afford to buy a house anymore at these high prices and at these higher mortgage rates,\u201d said Professor Van Nieuwerburgh, who added that the cost increases had locked up the housing market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prospective home buyers are feeling the pinch of rising costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s too expensive for us to do and still feel like we have a safety net,\u201d said Alicia, a 33-year-old I.T. analyst in the Seattle area who asked to use her first name only. She and her husband, who rent a home, started looking at single-family homes two years ago. Even though they had saved $300,000, they realized they could not afford the mortgage plus other housing costs, like taxes and insurance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The experience has made them rethink their life plans. \u201cBecause we can\u2019t afford a home, we\u2019re probably not going to have kids,\u201d she said. \u201cWe can\u2019t even afford a dog.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mortgage rates had dipped as low as 2.65 percent in January 2021, setting off a stampede of home buying that ignited bidding wars and drove up prices. But as rates began to rise again about a year later, the housing market settled into a malaise as homeowners became reluctant to move and give up their ultralow rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the housing market stagnating, developers are delaying building homes. \u201cHigher mortgage rates, rising construction financing costs and affordability challenges continue to weigh on the market and limit momentum for new-home construction,\u201d Bill Owens, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders, said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eric Orenstein, a senior director at Fitch Ratings, said that he expected home sales and mortgage refinancing to slow for the rest of the year, but that the market would eventually begin to thaw as homeowners were forced to move because of major life events, like a job change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a psychological aspect: At what point do consumers just accept that rates are not going back to 3 percent?\u201d Mr. Orenstein said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And as owners build more equity in their homes, losing a low rate will have less impact, he added. Americans have amassed a record $35 trillion in home equity, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professor Van Nieuwerburgh said he was hopeful that the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which Congress passed in June, would add to the supply of homes to local markets by easing regulations for builders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n