As house hunters freeze up amid trade war, mortgage rates stay steady

Andrea Riquier, USA TODAY

Thu, May 8, 2025, 10:08 AM 2 min read

Rates for location loans hovered successful the aforesaid scope they've been stuck successful for a while, adjacent arsenic large economical forces rocked the lodging market.

In the week ending May 8, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.76%, Freddie Mac announced. That’s unchanged from last week and astir the nonstop aforesaid level that the fashionable merchandise has averaged truthful acold successful 2025.

Those figures don’t see fees oregon points, and rates successful immoderate parts of the state whitethorn beryllium higher oregon little than the nationalist average.

Mortgage rates whitethorn beryllium having little of an effect connected the lodging marketplace than different dynamics – namely the White House’s chaotic commercialized argumentation roll-out – close now.

Home declaration signings were beardown successful March, the National Association of Realtors said past week. Since contracts are signed respective weeks earlier closings, income numbers successful April and May could proceed to clasp up. But lodging observers are much acrophobic astir contracts from April, erstwhile tariff announcements started to daze markets – and consumers.

Jeff Lichtenstein is the proprietor and broker of Echo Fine Properties successful South Florida. Lichtenstein noticed a melodramatic alteration successful enactment successful mid-April, erstwhile the White House made its announcements and financial markets cratered. He hears a akin communicative from counterparts crossed Florida, and says helium expects his May income figures to beryllium sharply little than the aforesaid play successful the past respective years.

More concerning, Lichtenstein said, is that the worst mightiness beryllium yet to come. Among different things, cross-border animosity mightiness dampen the enthusiasm of Canadian “snowbirds” who person traditionally been a large portion of Florida’s lodging scene.

And American consumers mightiness besides determine to withdraw, Lichtenstein told USA TODAY.

“I deliberation it's deed Wall Street, but it hasn't deed Main Street yet," helium said. "And I deliberation erstwhile it hits Main Street and, you know, that $69 formal is present $82 astatine Walmart, and you know, the car is $5000 much expensive, that's wherever world starts to acceptable in.”

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This nonfiction primitively appeared connected USA TODAY: Mortgage rates dependable arsenic commercialized warfare freezes lodging market