U.S. Mortgage Rates Hit Highest Level Since October

SighingCashier

2026-03-25 12:00:59

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The Iran war pushed up oil prices, intensifying inflation concerns and driving up U.S. Treasury yields, which have the biggest impact on mortgage rates. The most common U.S. residential mortgage rate rose last week, marking the largest weekly increase in 11 months, and reached its highest level since October last year.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said that for the week ending March 20, the contract rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased by 13 basis points to 6.43%, the highest in nearly six months.

After hitting its lowest level since September 2022 earlier this month, mortgage rates have risen 34 basis points over three weeks since the U.S. and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran. Last week’s increase was the largest weekly jump since April.

MBA’s weekly mortgage application index fell sharply by 10.5% to 310.7 last week, the lowest since January, mainly due to a 14.6% decline in refinance applications. Purchase mortgage applications also decreased by 5.4%.

Joel Kan, MBA Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist, said that the threat of oil prices remaining high long-term continues to keep U.S. Treasury yields elevated, which in turn has driven mortgage rates higher last week.

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