Mortgage Rates Post Biggest Drop Since MarchBy RISMedia Staff
Heading into the Fourth of July weekend, Freddie Mac has given the real estate market reason to celebrate beyond the holiday. The 30-year mortgage rate, per the latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), continued its decline and now sits at 6.67%. The 15-year mortgage rate is 5.8%.
At the last survey reading at the end of June, the 30-year mortgage rate was 6.77%. “The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage decreased for the fifth consecutive week. This is the largest weekly decline since early March,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist in a statement. “Declining mortgage rates are encouraging and, while overall affordability challenges remain, we are seeing more sellers enter the market giving prospective buyers an advantage.” The latest jobs report, which showed positive data, makes it less likely for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates at their next July meeting. The Fed previously kept rates unchanged at their June FOMC meeting, and it was projected at the time that mortgage rates would still hover around 6%. “With relatively resilient economic conditions, mortgage rates may not fall much further this summer,” said Bright MLS Chief Economist Lisa Sturtevant in a statement. Part of the reason that the Fed hesitated to cut rates was overall economic uncertainty. Sturtevant projects that—despite mortgage rates consistently going down over the weeks—homebuyers are still cautious overall and not just due to the seasonality of home-buying. The latest report on mortgage applications showed an increase mostly driven by refinance applications, for instance. Consumer sentiment is also down, Sturtevant noted. “Affordability is still a challenge. While prices are weakening in some markets, they hit new record highs in other markets in May,” said Sturtevant. “Some buyers are waiting both for rates and prices to come down before they get into the market.” This week’s numbers
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