February 09, 2022 - 8:27am | By Kyle Cornell
(Washington, DC) -- Rising interest rates appear to be pushing people who want to buy homes to the sidelines.
The Mortgage Bankers Association reports the national average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage jumped five basis points last week, to three-point-83 percent. That played a big role in the week's ten-percent drop in applications for loans to buy homes.
Rising rates also drove down applications to refinance current mortgages, which fell seven-percent for the week. Refinance applications are down 52-percent compared to this time last year.