US 30-Year Mortgage Rate Rises to 7.5%, Purchase Index Falls for Sixth Week

The persistence matters more than the level: six straight weekly declines in purchase applications, the longest such run since mid-2023, points to demand erosion rather than a one-week reaction to rate headlines. The refinance index's eighth consecutive drop suggests the lock-in effect is still freezing existing borrowers in place, which constrains housing turnover and the ancillary spending that follows it. Whether the purchase index stabilizes once rates stop grinding higher is the open question, since the current streak reflects both affordability and a shrinking pool of willing buyers.