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By Giulia Carbonaro
Senior Reporter
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The White House celebrated mortgage rates falling below 6 percent for the first time in nearly four years this week as a victory for President Donald Trump, who has been pushing for lower borrowing costs since his return to office.
“President Trump is making housing more affordable for you and your family,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on X on Thursday. “And President Trump won’t stop fighting until the American Dream of homeownership is attainable for every American.”
Why It Matters
Historically low mortgage rates during the pandemic triggered a homebuying frenzy which, facing limited inventory across the country, brought up median single-family home prices by 48 percent between 2019 and 2024, according to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.
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However, following the Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate-hiking campaign to combat inflation, launched in 2022, mortgage rates nearly doubled. Between 2022 and 2025, they lingered between the 6 percent and 7 percent, presenting a significant challenge to would-be buyers already facing higher housing costs.
What To Know
Trump returned to the White House with the promise of lowering the cost of housing, including borrowing costs. Over the past year, he repeatedly pressured the Federal Reserve’s chair, Jerome Powell, to cut interest rates, a move that would indirectly impact mortgage rates, finally bringing them down.
The Federal Reserve only cut its key rate toward the end of last year, triggering a modest slide in mortgage rates. Week after week, mortgage rates have continued slipping, even though they still remained double their pandemic lows.
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This week, according to Freddie Mac, the national average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage finally fell under the 6 percent mark—something which had not happened since 2022.
As of February 26, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 5.98 percent, down from 6.01 percent a week earlier and 6.76 percent a year earlier.
Realtor.com economist Jiayi Xu said that the decline in mortgage rate is in line with the recent fall in 10-year Treasury yields as investors face rising uncertainty over the direction the U.S. economy is taking.
“Specifically, the Supreme Court struck down the administration’s broad emergency tariff powers, and the President responded by immediately invoking alternative ‘Section 122’ authority to impose new temporary duties,” she said in a statement shared with Newsweek.
“This legal tug-of-war has triggered a flight to safety among investors, pushing bond prices higher and yields lower, helping mortgage rates settle around 6 percent,” she added. “However, as this week’s decline stems from market volatility rather than fundamental economic data, more supportive economic data is needed to establish a consistent trend.”
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This lower rate, combined with the current gap between sellers and buyers in the U.S. housing market, could boost sluggish demand just in time for the spring homebuying season.
However, it remains to be seen whether the Trump administration could claim to have achieved a significant improvement in affordability in the housing market already.
Many would-be buyers remain cautious, navigating still-rising home prices and lingering concerns over the U.S. economy and the jobs market, with pending home sales dropping 5.1 percent year-over-year in the four weeks ending February 8, according to Redfin data.
Meanwhile, the median sale price of the typical U.S. home was up 1.2 percent year-over-year to $378,725.
What People Are Saying
Xu said in a statement shared with Newsweek: “The stabilization of mortgage rates near 6 percent this spring marks a notable turning point where, for the first time since the post-pandemic spike, both the psychological barrier and the numerical threshold of the 5 percent range have finally been reached.
“Since the national inventory recovery has recently stalled, a lower rate could possibly bring more homeowners who were previously ‘locked in’ to finally enter back into the market. While today’s borrowing costs remain high as 70 percent of mortgage holders have rates below 5 percent, it is far more encouraging than the high 6 percent or 7 percent ranges seen over the previous two spring seasons.”
Bright MLS Chief Economist Lisa Sturtevant, a mortgage veteran, said in a statement shared with Newsweek: “Homebuyers do not yet appear to be jumping on these below-6 percent rates. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that purchase applications did rise 12 percent compared to last year at this time, but applications were down 5 percent compared to the week prior.
“Assuming rates stay below 6 percent, buyers and sellers are going to start getting back into the market. March is when the spring homebuying season typically begins to ramp up and with rates at a three-and-a-half year low, it could be a barn burner of a spring homebuying season.”
Kyle Bass, Production Business Manager at Refi.com, said in a statement shared with Newsweek: “With modest rate moves like we are seeing, affordability has improved meaningfully for some.
“We’re seeing a refinance market that reflects that shift. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, refinance activity has surged 150 percent year-over-year. Homeowners are clearly taking advantage of the current rate environment to lower their monthly payments.”
What Happens Next
Despite doubts, Sturtevant said she has reasons to be optimistic about the U.S. housing market unfreezing this spring after a slow winter.
“While overall economic numbers appear solid, economic uncertainty is still weighing on the minds of many prospective homebuyers and sellers. In addition to rates moving lower, people also are waiting for signs of stability, both in terms of rates and the economic and political environment,” she said.
“Wildcards like new tariffs, private-sector layoffs, changes in Federal Reserve leadership and potential international conflict could cast a shadow over the sunny lower-rate environment.”
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