Mortgage rates ease for 2nd straight week; average rate on 30-year home loan at 6.95%
Mortgage rates eased again this week, though the latest pullback leaves the average rate on a 30-year home loan at close to 7%, where it’s been much of this year
LOS ANGELES — Mortgage rates eased again this week, though the latest pullback leaves the average rate on a 30-year home loan at close to 7%, where it's been much of this year.
The rate fell to 6.95% from 6.99% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.69%.
Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, also eased this week, lowering the average rate to 6.17% from 6.29% last week. A year ago, it averaged 6.10%, Freddie Mac said.
“Mortgage rates continued to fall back this week as incoming data suggests the economy is cooling to a more sustainable level of growth,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.
Home loan rates are influenced by several factors, including how the bond market reacts to the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy and the moves in the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans.
Yields have eased recently following some economic data showing slower growth. On Thursday, a report showed inflation at the wholesale level fell from April into May. That followed a surprisingly encouraging update on inflation at the consumer level a day earlier.
Signs that the economy is cooling can drive inflation lower, which could persuade the Fed to lower its short-term interest rate from its highest level in more than two decades.
Federal Reserve officials said Wednesday that inflation has fallen further toward their target level of 2% in recent months but signaled that they expect to cut their benchmark interest rate just
Read more on abcnews.go.com
