The rate fell to 6.95% from 6.99% last week, mortgage buyer
Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, also eased this week, lowering the average rate to 6.17% from 6.29% last week. A year ago, it averaged 6.10%,
“Mortgage rates continued to fall back this week as incoming data suggests the economy is cooling to a more sustainable level of growth,” said
Home loan rates are influenced by several factors, including how the bond market reacts to the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy and the moves in the 10-year
Yields have eased recently following some economic data showing slower growth. On Thursday, a report showed inflation at the wholesale level fell from April into May. That followed a surprisingly encouraging update on inflation at the consumer level a day earlier.
Signs that the economy is cooling can drive inflation lower, which could persuade the Fed to lower its short-term interest rate from its highest level in more than two decades.
Until the Fed begins lowering its short-term rate, long-term mortgage rates are unlikely to ease significantly, economists say.
The average rate on a 30-year mortgage remains near a two-decade high, adding hundreds of dollars a month in costs on a home loan, limiting homebuyers’ purchasing options.
Elevated mortgage rates dampened home sales this spring homebuying season. Sales of previously occupied
The recent pullback in mortgage rates has spurred a pickup in home loan applications, which jumped nearly 16% last week from a week earlier, according to the
“A further decline in mortgage rates, coupled with reports of rising inventory levels in markets across the country, is good news for prospective homebuyers this summer,” said MBA CEO
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