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Average US long-term mortgage rate climbs to 6.51%, highest level in nearly nine months

The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate climbed this week to its highest level in nearly nine months, driving up borrowing costs for homebuyers during what’s traditionally the housing market’s busiest time of the year.

The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate rose to 6.51% from 6.36% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. Despite the sharp increase, the average rate remains below 6.86%, where it was a year ago.

Rates have been mostly trending higher since the war with Iran began. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has roiled energy markets, sending crude oil prices sharply higher — a key driver of inflation.

Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy decisions to bond market investors’ expectations for the economy and inflation. They generally follow the trajectory of the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans.

Expectations of higher oil prices and worries about big and growing debts for the U.S. government and others have pushed up long-term bond yields, causing mortgage rates to head higher.

The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note, which was at 4.6% in midday trading Thursday on the bond market. A week ago, it was at 4.47%. It was at just 3.97% in late February, before the war broke out.

Meanwhile, borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, also rose this week. That average rate climbed to 5.85% from 5.71% last week. A year ago, it was at 6.01%, Freddie Mac said.

When mortgage rates rise they can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, reducing their purchasing power.

As recently as late February, the average rate on a 30-year mortgage had slipped just under 6% for the first time since late 2022. It’s hasn’t fallen below that threshold since. It’s now at its highest level since August 28, when it was 6.56%.

While average long-term mortgage rates remain lower than they were at this time last year, their recent increase has helped dampen sales so far this spring homebuying season.

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes were essentially flat last month after declining from a year earlier in the first three months of the year, extending a nationwide housing slump that dates back to 2022 when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows.

Mortgage applications, which include loans to buy a home or refinance an existing mortgage, fell 2.3% last week from a week earlier to their lowest level in five weeks, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Much of the decline was caused by a sharp drop in home purchase applications.

The elevated mortgage rates are driving more prospective homebuyers to adjustable-rate mortgages, or ARMs. Such loans, which typically offer lower initial interest rates than traditional 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages, accounted for nearly 10% of all mortgage applications last week, the highest share since October, MBA said.

Home shoppers who are undeterred by rising mortgage rates are benefiting from buyer-friendly trends in many markets, including more properties on the market than a year ago and data showing home listing prices have started falling in many metro areas, especially in the South and Midwest.

“The spring season still offers real opportunity, though each uptick in rates narrows the pool of buyers who can make the numbers work,” said Anthony Smith, senior economist at Realtor.com.

Lamine Yamal ‘had what other kids didn’t,’ says his former Barcelona youth team coach

(CNN) — At just 19, soccer superstar Lamine Yamal has won more than most players ever do in their entire careers. He’s already a three-time La Liga winner for Barcelona, a European champion with Spain and now, he’s one game away from adding a World Cup to his trophy cabinet.It’s an incredible success rate for the youngster, and it’s a rise through the ranks that’s surprised even those who were first to see the youngster’s talent.Speaking to CNN Sports, Barcelona youth team coach Marc Serra explained what stood out about the prodigy during a trial game he watched over a decade ago, which was organized by Barça to identify the best talent in the country.“He came here, and in that very first time of meeting, we saw that he had things that made him stand out from the others, and we decided to bring him in,” Serra says.“What we saw was that he did things uniquely or differently and, more importantly, it looked like no one had taught him any of that. He basically had just started playing and he was just born with it.“It was in his genes, or he learned it in the streets, but – whatever it was – he had what other kids didn’t.”Yamal first arrived at the Catalan giant aged 7, having previously played for his local club La Torreta. He was one of several young boys who joined the club’s famed La Masía academy – a soccer school which has raised some of the best players in recent times, including Lionel Messi.Serra, who is now Barcelona’s under-7s coordinator, was Yamal’s coach when he was around 10 or 11.He saw firsthand how much magic the young kid had in his boots, but never predicted he would ever take the sport by storm at such a young age.In 2023, eight years on from that trial match, Yamal made his debut for the Barcelona first team aged just 15 years, 9 months and 16 days – becoming the youngest player to represent the club in over a century.But he didn’t just turn up once, he took the opportunity by the scruff of the neck and ran with it. He quickly became the focal point for the team’s attack and made an equally large splash with the national team.He has since become one of the best players on the planet, able to dominate games with his pace, his trickery and an eye for the spectacular. His passing, in addition to his long-range shooting ability, is possibly his greatest strength. He’s able to create chances out of seemingly nothing, a trait he possessed from the very start of his career.“He did things on the pitch that to me, as a coach, it was very difficult to believe a 10 or 11-year-old could do,” Serra says, distinctly remembering Yamal’s ability to pass with the outside of his boot.“Passes that you wouldn’t see, plays that you wouldn’t think of. In the end, he knew more than you. He dreams up things that the rest of us can’t.”But the fact that he’s been able to translate that ability onto the senior stage, against seasoned professionals, is remarkable even for Serra. Yamal has such a presence on the pitch that it’s easy to forget he’s just a teenager. And he’s so well established that it’s barely believable that he’s still got time to get better.Bravery combined with skillSerra puts Yamal’s rapid rise partly down to his mentality. Remembering the young attacker as a “nice” and “happy” boy, the youth team coach also recalls how things changed when he stepped onto the pitch.He became a competitor, totally fearless and ready to play against whatever the opposition had to throw at him.“The few times you had to push Lamine a bit were in easier matches or more routine ones,” Serra says.“But when the hour of truth came – big matches, tournaments – you would say to yourself, he won’t let you down here, you knew he would be at his level. I think he likes challenges.“I feel lucky to have had him close to me. I think that players like Lamine, of which there are very few, we don’t have much to do with it.“Simply, we’ve tried to accompany him, tried not to ruin what he is, let him keep flowing and I think in a lot of ways, it’s us who can learn from him.”The new Messi?Due to his attacking flair and rise through La Masía, comparisons to Messi began early. In an incredible twist of fate, a then-20-year-old Messi was actually photographed holding Yamal as a baby back in 2007.But Yamal doesn’t seem phased by the weighty comparison – content on being the best version of himself, and not worrying about what the rest of the world says.Serra urges that it’s still too early to predict just how far the Spaniard can go in the sport, but says he just might be able to join Messi as, who he thinks, the greatest player in history.“The important thing is he plays like he is,” Serra added. “That he keeps enjoying himself like he has been until now.“If he manages to be at that level and to keep growing from now until 12 or 13 years from now, we’ll be talking about Lamine as one of the best ever.“But he’s still young, we also shouldn’t put too much pressure on him. We just have to let him do what he likes on the pitch, to enjoy himself, because if that’s what happens, I’m sure he will keep getting better.”World Cup concernsYamal is one of the key figures for La Roja at the World Cup, where he’s helped Spain to the final.But the youngster was a slight injury concern heading into the group stages, after missing the end of Barcelona’s club season with a hamstring injury.He didn’t feature in any of Spain’s warm-up matches before kickoff in North America, but Yamal’s been able to slowly build himself up to near 100%. There are hopes that he can now shine brightest on the biggest stage of all to help La Roja claim its second ever World Cup.“The bigger the challenge, the better he gets and the better it goes for him,” Serra says.“Every day though, Lamine is adding new things. He’s getting better. I don’t think that his potential has been reached. Every day, he’s growing and that’s perhaps what’s most impressive. You don’t see a ceiling to his talent.”The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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