Following two weeks of easing, mortgage rates have now risen for two straight weeks, putting the average 30-year loan back at 6.37%, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly rate survey.

The 6.37% average represents an increase of seven basis points from the prior week and is the same level seen during the seven-day period ending April 9.

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage rose eight basis points over the week to land at 5.72%.

In commentary accompanying the data release, Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater focused on more optimistic metrics.

“Recent data points to slightly better conditions for buyers with a boost in new-home sales, median new-home prices being down to their lowest level since July 2021, and higher inventory than in recent years,” Khater stated. “Together, these trends could modestly ease affordability pressures through the spring homebuying season.”

The recent uptick in borrowing costs has put a dent in mortgage demand, however.

Mortgage applications fell 4.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending May 1, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). Refinances declined by 5% and purchase applications dipped 4%.

Besides mortgage rates hitting their highest levels in a month, MBA President and CEO Bob Broeksmit observed an alarming swell in loan sizes.

“At $467,300, the purchase application loan size is the highest in MBA’s survey dating back to 1990,” Broeksmit said in commentary shared with Scotsman Guide on Thursday. “These rising loan sizes highlight persistent affordability pressures and a market increasingly skewed toward higher-income borrowers.”

That shift up the income ladder has been reinforced in a series of recent reports, which collectively found that weakening home affordability has exacerbated income divides and generational rifts, with younger generations increasingly reliant on downpayment gift funds or priced out of the market entirely.