Mortgage rates continued to fall this week, with the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) dropping to 6.09%, down from 6.20% last week, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
A year ago at this time, the average rate for a 30-year was 7.19%
“Mortgage rates continued declining towards the six percent mark, reviving purchase and refinance demand for many consumers,” says Sam Khater, chief economist for Freddie Mac, in a statement. “While mortgage rates do not directly follow moves by the Federal Reserve, this first cut in over four years will have an impact on the housing market. Declining mortgage rates over the last several weeks indicate this cut was mostly baked in, but we expect rates to fall further, sparking more housing activity.”
The average rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage was 5.15%, down from 5.27% last week and down from 6.54% a year ago.
Mortgage rates are expected to continue to decrease gradually in the months to come, as yesterday the Fed kicked off a series of rate cuts beginning with a 0.50 percentage point cut to the Fed Funds rate.
Photo: David Kristianto