The back and forth on tariffs between President Donald Trump’s administration and the courts is leaving mortgage rates stuck in something “like Groundhog Day,” according to Melissa Cohn, regional vice president of William Raveis Mortgage and a 43-year industry veteran.
“It feels like we are starting all over again every day,” she said in a statement shared with Newsweek. For mortgage rates, which many Americans are hoping would come down soon, that likely means little to no movement in the foreseeable future.
Why It Matters
After dropping to historically low levels during the pandemic, mortgage rates suddenly surged in 2022 as a result of the Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate-hiking campaign to combat inflation. Since then, they have lingered between the 6-percent and the 7-percent mark—more than double their pandemic lows. As of May 29, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.89 percent, according to Freddie Mac.
Elevated mortgage rates have exacerbated the U.S. housing affordability crisis, pushing many aspiring homebuyers to the sidelines and locking in existing homeowners. Lower rates would be welcome news for the market—but the instability spurred by Trump’s tariff policies has undermined hopes that the Fed would lower its key interest rate any time soon, triggering a decline in mortgage rates.
