In an aerial photo, two-story single-family homes line neighborhood streets on January 13, 2026 in Thousand Oaks, California.
Kevin Carter | Getty Images
Mortgage rates rose to their highest since September on Friday as bond yields rose due to the war in Iran.
According to Mortgage News Daily, the average interest rate for the 30-year fixed loan was 6.41%. This is the highest rate since the first week of September, but is still below the 6.78% achieved at the same time last year.
Mortgage rates largely follow the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield, which rose again on Friday.
“For those who expect bonds to act as a safe haven in times of uncertainty, this is counterintuitive. However, if war has a direct impact on inflation expectations, that is more than enough to offset the safe haven benefits that would otherwise be expected,” wrote Matthew Graham, chief operating officer at Mortgage News Daily.
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Even as interest rates began rising last week, mortgage demand from homebuyers increased, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, but this week’s new increase could put a dent in the spring season already plagued by other major headwinds.
Lennar, one of the country’s largest homebuilders, reported disappointing first-quarter results. Its CEO, Stuart Miller, described the headwinds for the broader market as “high mortgage rates, limited affordability, cautious consumer sentiment and geopolitical uncertainty, particularly now, including the recent conflict in Iran.”
Just two weeks ago, interest rates had fallen to a multi-year low and briefly reached 5.99%. Now all the savings from these lower rates are gone.
For someone buying a home worth $400,000, about the national average, with 20% down on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, the monthly payment is now about $115 more than it was two weeks ago.
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