August 8,2024
US mortgage rates plummeted this week after weaker-than-expected employment data raised the odds of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates next month. It’s a big step in the right direction for America’s notoriously unaffordable housing market.
The standard 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.47% this week, mortgage financing giant Freddie Mac said Thursday. That’s down substantially from last week’s average of 6.73% and marks the lowest level since May 2023. This week’s drop was the biggest since late December.
Mortgage rates have steadily fallen over the past several weeks since reaching a 2024 peak of 7.22% in early May. Rates are down from a two-decade high seen late last year.
“The decline in mortgage rates does increase prospective homebuyers’ purchasing power and should begin to pique their interest in making a move,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, in a release.
“Additionally, this drop in rates is already providing some existing homeowners the opportunity to refinance, with the refinance share of market mortgage applications reaching nearly 42 percent, the highest since March 2022.”
