Mortgage rates fell sharply on Thursday after the Trump administration fees announcement.
The average rate in the popular fixed loan of 30 years fell 12 basic points to 6.63%, according to Mortgage News Daily. That put it at the lowest level since October.
The mass sale in the stock market on Thursday sent investors who fled to the bond market. That caused bond yields to fall. Mortgage rates freely follow the performance of the 10 -year Treasury of the United States.and they had moved in a very narrow range since the end of February.
“While there is a lot of uncertainty about the finest points of the Tariff’s announcement on Wednesday afternoon, the markets have heard enough to prepare for the impact on global trade,” wrote Matthew Graham, director of Operations of Mortgage News Daily.
The drop in rates comes at a good time for the real estate market, since the historically occupied spring season is launched. But there are several other factors that work against buyers and domestic accessibility.
During the four weeks that end on March 30, the monthly payment of the American housing buyer reached a record record for the second consecutive week, reaching $ 2,802, according to Redfin, a real estate broker.
“Sales prices increased 3.4% year after year, and the weekly average mortgage rate is 6.65%, close to its lowest level since December, but more than the double minimum of the era of the pandemic,” according to the report.
Even with a slight drop in mortgage rates on Thursday, approximately 70% of households, or 94 million, cannot pay a house of $ 400,000; The estimated average price of a new house is around $ 460,000 in 2025, according to the National Housing Constructors Association. This calculation was based on income thresholds and subscription standards.
The minimum income required to buy a $ 200,000 house at the 6.5% mortgage rate is $ 61,487, according to the report. In 2025, it is estimated that around 52.87 million homes in the US.
While there is a growing offer of houses that reach the market, that supply is not at the price where it has more demand, which means that it is not at the lower end. It is also, in general, much lower than it has been historically, due to the chronic subsidy since the great recession.
“The supply is increasing; many people I have spoken with during the last year or two are calling, saying that they are ready to list their home,” said Matt Ferris, a Redfin agent in northern Virginia. “Some believe that we are at the top of the market, and want to get the best price of their home. Here in the DC area, some people are selling because they are worried about losing the government’s work or because they want to buy closer to the city due to the policies in the office.”
As for the spring season until now, March saw an annual jump of 10% in the new listings, with active listings approximately 28% year after year, according to Realtor.com. But it also found houses on the market for longer and the proportion of listings with price reductions increasing. Pending sales, which are contracts signed in existing homes, fell 5.2% last March in the largest metropolitan areas in the country.
Some of the most pronounced decreases were in Jacksonville, Florida and Miami, Florida, 15.1% lower and 13.7%, respectively, where markets have softened due in part to the migration of reverse pandemic. Virginia Beach, Virginia, saw a decrease of 14.2%.
“The high purchase cost together with the growing economic concerns suggest a slow response from buyers at the beginning of spring. We are seeing a market that is re -quilibrating, offering more options for buyers,” wrote Danielle Hale, chief economist of Realtor.com, in a statement. “Recent improvements in mortgage rates are a good omen for the spring housing season and early summer, provided that economic concerns resolve and not eliminate buyers.”
