U.S. 30-year mortgage rate hits 7.12%, highest since May 2024

U.S. 30-year mortgage rate hits 7.12%, highest since May 2024

Wed, September 23, 2026 at 4:07 PM GMT+3 2 min read

The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage climbed to 7.12% in the week ended September 18, the highest level since May 2024, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The week-over-week move represented a rise of 15 basis points from 6.97%.

The rate increase weighed on loan demand. Overall, the MBA's seasonally adjusted index showed application volume down 1.5% compared with the week prior. Refinance applications slid 3% over the week and stood 62% below year-ago levels — marking the slowest refinancing pace since February 2025. Purchase applications slipped 1% from the previous week and came in 11% under the pace recorded a year earlier.

With fixed rates elevated, more borrowers shifted toward adjustable-rate mortgages. The ARM share of applications rose to 9.8% from 8.4% the prior week. "With fixed rates much higher, more borrowers opted for ARMs, with the ARM share reaching 9.8%, as rates for 5/1 ARMs were more than a percentage point lower than those for fixed rate loans," Mike Fratantoni, MBA's senior vice president and chief economist, said in a statement. The average rate on 5/1 ARMs fell to 6.10% from 6.23%.

The Federal Reserve last week raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to the 3.75%–4.00% range, according to Reuters. Nearly all Fed policymakers projected at least one additional rate increase before year-end. Because mortgage rates move in tandem with U.S. Treasury yields, the upward pressure on oil prices and the inflation fears that followed the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran in late February have fed directly into borrowing costs.

Since the Iran conflict broke out, mortgage rates have climbed by more than one percentage point in total, according to Reuters. The 30-year Treasury yield hit a 19-year high in August, touching 5.323%, as war-driven energy costs rekindled inflation concerns and the 10-year yield crossed above 4.7%. The average 30-year fixed rate stood at 6.75% at that point, still below the 7% threshold crossed last week.

Crossing 7% carries weight beyond the numbers alone. "Seven percent is significant simply because of the psychological effect of people seeing that number be the first digit," Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin, told Bloomberg.

Early this week, rates edged back down as falling oil prices pulled bond yields off their recent highs, according to CNBC, which cited data from a separate Mortgage News Daily survey.