US Mortgage Rates at 6.3%, Highest Since 2008

[Asia Economy Reporter Changhwan Lee] Mortgage rates in the United States have reached their highest level since October 2008.

According to Bloomberg on the 22nd (local time), the government-backed mortgage company Freddie Mac announced that the average interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages over the past week rose by 0.27 percentage points from the previous week (6.02%) to 6.29%, based on market research.

Freddie Mac's announcement came as the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by 0.75 percentage points for the third consecutive time the day before, pushing the upper limit to 3.25%. The Fed also revised its year-end benchmark rate forecast upward to 4.4%, increasing concerns about an economic recession.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell emphasized at a press conference the previous day that "a serious imbalance has developed as home prices have risen at an unsustainable pace," stressing that a correction in home prices is inevitable.

The U.S. housing sales market is also being affected. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), existing home sales last month decreased by 0.4% from the previous month to 4.8 million units (annualized), marking the seventh consecutive month of decline.

This represents the longest decline since the 2007 subprime mortgage crisis.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.