US mortgage rates paused their recent slide, with the average 30-year fixed loan holding at 6.58% for the week ended Aug. 21, according to Freddie Mac’s primary mortgage market survey. The 15-year average slipped to 5.69% from 5.71%. At 6.58%, the benchmark rate is at its lowest level in nearly 10 months after four consecutive weekly declines. The modest retreat from this year’s peak of 7.04% has yet to revive housing activity. Mortgage Bankers Association figures show refinancing applications fell 3% last week and purchase applications were essentially flat. Home-builder sentiment has dropped to a 2½-year low, while July existing-home sales, though up 2% on the month to an annualised 4.01 million, remain near historical troughs. Borrowing costs are still well above the roughly 3% rates many homeowners secured during the pandemic, keeping would-be sellers and buyers on the sidelines. Treasury yields that guide mortgage pricing have been broadly steady, with the 10-year note hovering around 4.3%. Investors are waiting for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks at Friday’s Jackson Hole symposium; futures imply a 77% chance the Fed will trim its policy rate by 25 basis points next month. Unless mortgage rates fall closer to 6% or below, analysts say a sustained rebound in housing demand is unlikely.