Mortgage rates moved up slightly this week as geopolitical tensions between the US and Europe flared.
The average 30-year mortgage rate was 6.09% through Wednesday, according to Freddie Mac data, up from 6.06% a week earlier. The average 15-year mortgage rate increased to 5.44%, up from 5.38%.
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President Trump’s fresh tariff threats over Greenland temporarily jolted markets earlier this week and sent mortgage rates from near 6% — their lowest level since 2022 — to around 6.2%.
“Selling pressure in Treasuries, driven by renewed trade policy uncertainty, pushed long-term yields higher and helped nudge mortgage rates back up,” Realtor.com senior economist Anthony Smith said in a statement.
By Wednesday, Trump had walked back the levies, saying he had reached the framework of a deal with NATO. The 10-year Treasury yield, which mortgage rates closely track, fell, and that may translate to lower rates in the coming days.
Daily data on lenders’ rates appeared to capture more of the week’s turmoil. As of midday Thursday, Mortgage News Daily put the average 30-year rate at 6.19%, little changed since Tuesday, and around where rates were before Trump announced a $200 billion bond-buying plan designed to lower mortgage rates earlier this month.
During market swings, Kyle McCort, an Ohio-based sales manager and mortgage loan originator at NFM Lending, said he reminds his clients to stay calm and focus on what they can control, not on every rate fluctuation.
“Just because the world is in chaos doesn’t mean you are in chaos,” McCort said.
Read more: When will mortgage rates go down?
Claire Boston is a Senior Reporter for Yahoo Finance covering housing, mortgages, and home insurance.
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