Stable but still-elevated rates kept the market active
US mortgage rates hovered around 6% this week, keeping financing costs well below last year’s peaks and giving lenders a modest tailwind heading into the spring selling season.
Freddie Mac’s latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed the average 30-year fixed rate at 6.00% for the week ending March 5, up slightly from 5.98% a week earlier and down from 6.63% a year ago.
That trend arrived amid a climb in 10-year Treasury yields as the US continues to bomb Iran, a military campaign that began at the weekend.
The 15-year fixed rate averaged 5.43%, compared with 5.79% at the same point in 2025.
Broader momentum in applications and refis
The small move higher followed several weeks in which average long-term rates dipped below 6% for the first time since late 2022, according to separate data tracked by Freddie Mac and reported by news outlets.
“Mortgage rates held steady at 6% this week, hovering near their lowest level since 2022,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.
“In fact, rates are down nearly a full percentage point from this time in 2024, spurring activity from buyers, sellers and owners. As a result, refinance activity is up, and purchase applications are ahead of last year’s pace.”
Recent figures from the Mortgage Bankers Association appeared to support that picture. In its latest weekly survey, MBA reported that overall mortgage applications rose 11% from the prior week, while the refinance share of activity climbed to 59.8% of total applications.
From sidelines to “new normal”
The near-6% range still looked high compared with the pandemic-era trough, yet it has increasingly been treated as the new normal across the industry.
Some originators view rates in the mid-6% band as enough to pull both buyers and reluctant sellers back into the market, even if affordability remains stretched in many metros.
With the Federal Reserve keeping its policy rate on hold and signaling only gradual easing ahead, most forecasts point to mortgage rates drifting rather than plunging this year.
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