For the first time in three weeks, the United States mortgage rate rose to 6.66 per cent over a 30-year period

On 28 August, United States mortgage interest rates rose for the first time in three weeks, further crushing housing affordability at a time when the real estate market was weak. Equities data show that the average interest rate on fixed mortgages for a 30-year period rose slightly from 6.65 per cent in the previous week to 6.66 per cent, up from 6.56 per cent a year earlier. Since the beginning of this year, the United States real estate market has continued to be depressed, with mortgage interest rates having temporarily collapsed by 6 per cent before the outbreak of the Middle East conflict at the end of February, but has remained above 6.5 per cent since July, with little sign of a fall in financing costs. According to Thomas Ryan, a senior North American economist at the Cayes Macro, “high interest rates continue to stagnate markets”, and if interest rates eventually fall to around 5 per cent, the depressed demand may be released significantly, but it is not clear in the short term what factors will drive interest rates down to this level. Sales for new homes in the United States dropped to a low of six months in July, and contract sales for new single homes decreased by 10.5 per cent, with an annual replacement rate of 607,000, down from the market target of 620,000。