House hunters hoping for lower mortgage rates ahead of the typically busy spring buying season will be disappointed: A closely watched benchmark for rates rose after January's stronger inflation reading.

The 10-year Treasury yield was up 0.097 percentage point to 4.633% early Wednesday, according to Dow Jones Market Data -- its largest one-day gain since mid-December. That increase will likely translate into higher mortgage rates Wednesday, since the 10-year yield and 30-year fixed mortgage rates tend to move in tandem.

Mortgage rates have hovered around 7% so far this year, according to Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Mortgage News Daily pegged the 30-year fixed rate at 7.05% on Tuesday.

Relatively high financing costs blunted home sales in 2024, and there are signs that such sluggishness has carried over into 2025. Pending home sales measured by Zillow in January fell 3.6% from a year earlier, the home listings website said Wednesday. Over one in five sellers cut listing prices last month, the most of any January since at least 2018.