Mortgage rates hit highest level since the start of the war with Iran | CNN Business

Geopolitical tensions are rippling through America’s housing market, adding to the financial strain on homebuyers. This week, the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage climbed to 6.55% — its highest level in nearly a year — after renewed strikes in Iran rattled financial markets. The increase all but extinguishes the optimism that defined the start of the spring homebuying season, when many economists expected falling mortgage rates to help thaw the housing market. In February, the average mortgage rate briefly fell below 6% for the first time in three and a half years. But fighting that erupted in the Middle East days later upended that trajectory, pushing bond yields and mortgage rates higher as investors worried the conflict would keep oil prices and inflation elevated. And there are signs elevated mortgage rates are keeping would-be buyers out of the market. Pending home sales in June fell by 5.4% month-over-month and by 0.3% since last year, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors released on Thursday. “The highest mortgage rates in nearly a year and the record-high national median home price together are contributing to a tepid housing marke