Housing News

Mortgage Rates Tumble to Lowest Level of the Year

Mortgage interest rates fell to the lowest level of 2025, giving homebuyers a bit of a financial break in the spring housing market.

A day after President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs and the stock market fell, mortgage rates dropped on Friday to an average 6.55% for 30-year, fixed-rate loans, according to Mortgage News Daily. This was down from 6.63% on Thursday.

Ironically, mortgage rates typically benefit from turmoil in the stock market.

“Tariff announcements have created uncertainty,” Bright MLS Chief Economist Lisa Sturtevant told New American Funding. The multiple listing service covers the mid-Atlantic region. “When there’s uncertainty investors tend to retreat to safer investments, like government bonds and mortgage bonds.”

When there is more demand for bonds, mortgage rates generally come down.

“Rates have been benefitting from the market chaos that's been hurting stocks,” Matthew Graham, chief operating officer at Mortgage News Daily, wrote on Thursday in an article.

The lower rates, combined with more homes going onto the market, could make the spring housing market friendlier for buyers.

There were 28.5% more homes for sale this March compared to the previous one, according to Realtor.com data.

In addition, about 17.5% of sellers cut their asking prices in March, according to Realtor.com. Plus, homes stayed on the market for 53 days, three days longer than the prior March.

That means buyers have more bargaining power.

“[However,] those lower mortgage rates could be cold comfort to prospective buyers if they feel uncertain about their jobs and their economic situations,” said Sturtevant.