US mortgage rates climb for a sixth straight week as loan demand weakens

What happened

Mortgage rates in the United States rose for the sixth week in a row, with the 30-year fixed rate reported well above 7%.

Mortgage application demand fell for a seventh straight week. Both refinancing activity and demand from homebuyers were hit, the report said.

Why it matters

Mortgage rates track longer-dated US borrowing costs, so a sustained climb is usually read as a signal about the bond market and expectations for policy and inflation. That link makes housing data one of the channels through which traders judge the interest rate outlook, which in turn feeds into the dollar and into rate-sensitive equity sectors such as homebuilders, banks and consumer names.

Housing is also a large part of US household spending and wealth, so a prolonged drop in loan demand is watched as an early read on the wider economy. Shifts in rate expectations tend to move gold, which carries no yield, and can affect risk appetite in indices and crypto, without implying any particular direction.

What to watch

The next weekly readings on mortgage rates and mortgage applications will show whether the run of increases in rates and the decline in demand extends further.