US mortgage interest rates top 5%, buyers look to lock in rates

Investors see the Fed bringing its federal funds rate to 2.5%-2.75% by the end of 2022, up from the current target range of between 0.25% and 0.5%

The average interest rate on the most popular U.S. home loan rose to more than 5% last week, the highest level since November 2018, and homebuyers hurried to make purchases before costs rise further, the latest weekly survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) showed on Wednesday.

The average contract rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage increased to 5.13% in the week ended April 8 from 4.90% a week earlier. It is up more than 1.5 percentage points since the start of the year as the Federal Reserve has begun to tighten financial conditions to cool demand in the economy amid