Rates for home loans surged amid evidence that higher borrowing costs and financial and economic uncertainty are holding back the housing market. In the week ending April 17, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.83%, Freddie Mac announced Thursday. That’s up from 6.62% last week and marks the biggest one-week jump since last August. Those figures don’t include fees or points, and rates in some parts of the country may be higher or lower than the national average. Mortgage rates follow the same trajectory as the 10-year U.S. Treasury note, which sold off fiercely at the beginning of April.

Springtime home shoppers may be feeling the impact of an intensifying trade war. The average rate on a standard, 30-year fixed mortgage was 6.83% in the week ending April 17, up from 6.62% a week ago, mortgage financing provider Freddie Mac said Thursday. That’s the largest one-week jump in mortgage rates in nearly a year. Interest rates on home loans had been steadily falling since March, which may have encouraged some prospective buyers to enter the market at the start of peak homebuying season. But President Donald Trump’s scattered approach to tariffs and an escalating trade war with China has injected volatility into the stock market, and resulted in a sell-off in US bonds last week.

Mortgage rates spiked this week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday, as President Donald Trump's tariffs led to instability in the bond market. Freddie Mac's latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey, released Thursday, showed that the average rate on the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage increased to 6.83% from last week's reading of 6.62%. The average rate on a 30-year loan was 7.1% a year ago. "The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage ticked up but remains below the 7% threshold for the thirteenth consecutive week," said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.