Mortgage rates edged down this week, with the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage hovering around 6.46%, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
Last week the average was around 6.49%.
A year ago at this time, the average rate for a 30-year was 7.23%.
“Although mortgage rates have stayed relatively flat over the past couple of weeks, softer incoming economic data suggest rates will gently slope downward through the end of the year,” says Sam Khater, chief economist for Freddie Mac, in a statement. “Earlier this month, rates plunged and are now lingering just under 6.5 percent, which has not been enough to motivate potential homebuyers. We expect rates likely will need to decline another percentage point to generate buyer demand.”
The average rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgage was 5.62%, down from 5.66% last week and down from a year ago when it averaged 6.55%.
Yesterday the Mortgage Bankers Association reported that mortgage application volume dropped 10.1% during the week ended August 16, despite mortgage rates dipping slightly lower.
Photo: Ali Rezaei