The average rate on a 30-year mortgage slipped to 6.79% from 6.87% last week, mortgage buyer
Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, also dipped this week, pulling the average rate to 6.11% from 6.21% last week. A year ago it averaged 5.56%,
“Mortgage rates moved slightly lower this week, providing a bit more room in the budgets of some prospective homebuyers,” said
After climbing to a 23-year high of 7.79% in October, the average rate on a 30-year mortgage has remained below 7% since early December. It got up as high as 6.94% just a month ago, after stronger-than-expected reports on inflation, the job market and the economy clouded the outlook for when the
Many economists expect that mortgage rates will ultimately ease moderately this year, but that’s not likely to happen before the Fed begins cutting its benchmark interest rate. Last week, the central bank kept its rate unchanged and signaled again that it expects to make three rate cuts this year, but not before it sees more evidence that inflation is slowing.
Investors’ expectations for future inflation, global demand for
The rise in mortgage rates most of last month pushed up monthly payments for prospective homebuyers. The national median payment on home loan applications in February was
The MBA forecasts that mortgage rates will gradually ease to around 6% by the end of the year.
The
Sales of previously occupied
Still, the average rate on a 30-year mortgage remains well above where it was just two years ago at 4.67%. That large gap between rates now and then has helped limit the number of previously occupied homes on the market by discouraging homeowners who locked in rock-bottom rates from selling.
“With rates still hovering around 7%, many prospective homebuyers are taking a ‘wait-and-see’ approach until affordability improves and more listings hit the market,” said
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