US mortgage rates rise to 6.51%, highest level in nine months, as bond market turmoil persists

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.51% for the week ending in mid-May 2026, up from 6.36% the prior week, according to Freddie Mac. The 15-year fixed rate, commonly used by homeowners refinancing existing loans, rose to 5.85% from 5.71% the previous week, Freddie Mac reported.

Mortgage rates loosely track the US 10-year Treasury yield, which rose to 4.6% on Thursday from 4.47% a week earlier and from 3.97% at the end of February, according to the Associated Press. Both sources attributed the bond market pressure to the war with Iran, which has disrupted energy markets, driven crude oil prices higher, and intensified investor concerns about inflation. CNN reported that the Consumer Price Index showed prices rose 3.8% in April — the highest level since May 2023 — and that for the first time in three years, Americans' wages did not outpace inflation.

As recently as the end of February, the 30-year rate had dipped below 6% for the first time since late 2022, a threshold it has not revisited since. CNN illustrated the cost difference with a $450,000 home example: at the February average of 5.98%, monthly principal and interest payments on a 20%-down loan would be approximately $2,154; at last week's rate, those payments would be roughly $2,278 — an extra $1,488 per year, or more than $44,640 over the loan's life.