Average long-term US mortgage rate falls to 7.22%, lowest level since late September
The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate fell for the fifth week in a row, more good news for prospective homebuyers grappling with an increasingly unaffordable housing market
LOS ANGELES — The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate fell for the fifth week in a row, more good news for prospective homebuyers grappling with an increasingly unaffordable housing market.
The latest decline brought the average rate on a 30-year mortgage down to 7.22% from 7.29% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.49%.
The average rate on a 30-year mortgage is now at the lowest level it’s been in 10 weeks, when it was 7.19%.
“Market sentiment has significantly shifted over the last month, leading to a continued decline in mortgage rates,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “The current trajectory of rates is an encouraging development for potential homebuyers, with purchase application activity recently rising to the same level as mid-September when rates were similar to today’s levels.”
While the recent string of rate declines are welcome news for would-be homebuyers, the average rate on a 30-year home loan remains sharply higher than just two years ago, when it was around 3%.
Higher rates can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, limiting how much they can afford in a market already out of reach for many Americans. They also discourage homeowners who locked in rock-bottom rates two years ago from selling.
The average rate on a 30-year home loan climbed above 6% in September 2022 and has remained above that threshold since. In late October, it climbed to 7.79%, the highest level on records going back to late 2000. That helped push up the median monthly payment
Read more on abcnews.go.com
