By Naveen Athrappully

Mortgage rates have risen for the second consecutive week, moving up to 6.11 percent after briefly dipping below the 6 percent level last month.

The average weekly mortgage rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.11 percent for the week ending March 11, up from 6 percent the previous week and 5.98 percent on Feb. 25, according to data from Freddie Mac.

The 5.98 percent level was the first time since September 2022 that the mortgage rate had fallen below 6 percent. In January 2025, rates peaked for the year at 7.04 percent, and have since been on a steady decline.

Even though rates have risen for two straight weeks, Freddie Mac chief economist Sam Khater does not expect this to have much of a negative impact on homebuying activity, he said in a March 12 statement.

“Despite the modest uptick, buyers are responding to rates in this range, with existing-home sales increasing 1.7 percent in February,” Khater said. “Purchase applications also increased this week, a welcome sign as buyers enter spring homebuying season with rates down more than half a percentage point compared to the same time last year.”

The lower rates give homeowners who have taken out high-rate mortgages a chance to refinance and lower their monthly payments. Few are taking this plunge, real estate brokerage Redfin said in a March 12 statement.

Nearly 20 percent of U.S. homeowners are “in the money” for a refinance, meaning their current mortgage rate is at least 50 basis points higher than the prevailing mortgage rate. A person who bought a home for $500,000 in October 2023 at that time’s mortgage rate of 7.8 percent will be making roughly $3,700 in monthly mortgage payments on a 20 percent down payment. If they refinance at 6 percent, the monthly payment falls by $500 to $3,200, Redfin said.

The company cited three key reasons why few homeowners are opting to refinance: Many of them are waiting for mortgage rates to fall further. Some may not even realize they can save money by refinancing. Other homeowners could be hesitating due to refinancing costs that can seem large.

“For homeowners who are in the money, refinancing now could meaningfully lower monthly payments and total interest costs over the life of the home loan,” Bill Banfield, chief business officer at Rocket Mortgage, said. “Even a modest rate reduction can add up to big savings, helping free up cash, build equity faster, or better weather future financial uncertainty.”

Housing Supply

While lower mortgage rates are generally considered good news for buyers, they can also tighten the housing market if there isn’t enough supply, making homes more expensive.

In a March 10 statement, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said that total housing inventory rose by 2.4 percent in February from the previous month, and was up 4.9 percent from a year ago.

Even though the inventory is growing, it is doing so “sluggishly,” NAR Chief Economist Dr. Lawrence Yun said. “If demand picks up notably in the coming months and outpaces supply growth, home prices will inevitably rise. That is why increasing supply is so important to help limit home price growth, improve housing affordability, and boost transactions.”

Redfin suggested in a March 12 statement that more sellers were testing the market, hoping for a surge in buyers during spring.

Justin Gomez, a Redfin Premier agent in Omaha, said that heading into spring and summer, “the vibe is that the market will shift from the slowness we’ve seen over the last few years.”

“I’ve already seen a few bidding wars on lower–priced homes,“ Gomez said. ”And that may become more common if mortgage rates stay closer to 6 percent than 7 percent.”

On March 12, the Senate overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan bill that aims to tackle the housing supply issue and make homes more affordable for Americans.

The bill is expected to “help boost housing supply and bring down costs,” according to a March 10 statement from the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

“The bill also takes a first step towards reining in corporate landlords and ensuring families, not corporations, can buy homes across the country—a goal that is overwhelmingly popular with the American people across party lines.”