With higher rates and home prices, house hunters need to earn about $25,000 extra if they want to buy the typical home now compared to a year earlier, Nadia Evangelou, senior economist and director of forecasting at the National Association of REALTORS®, writes for the association’s blog. Existing-home sales are dropping as a result.

“While springtime is typically the busiest home buying season, the upswing in rates has caused some volatility in demand,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “It continues to be a seller’s market, but buyers who remain interested in purchasing a home may find that competition has moderately softened.”

Freddie Mac reports the following national averages for the week ending April 21:

*30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 5.11%, with an average 0.8 points, rising from last week’s 5%. Last year at this time, they averaged 2.97%.

*15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 4.38%, with an average 0.8 points, increasing from last week’s 4.17% average. A year ago, they averaged 2.29%.

Source: Freddie Mac and “Instant Reaction: Mortgage Rates, April 21, 2022,” National Association of REALTORS® Economists’ Outlook blog