The average long-term US mortgage rate falls to 7.5% in second-straight weekly drop

abcnews.go.com:

The average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan fell for the second week in a row, positive news for prospective homebuyers after rates touched a 22-year high just last month

LOS ANGELES — The average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan fell for the second week in a row, positive news for prospective homebuyers after rates touched a 22-year high just last month.

The latest decline brought the average rate on a 30-year mortgage down to 7.5% from 7.76% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 7.08%.

As mortgage rates rise, they 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 far lower rates two years ago, when they were around 3%, from selling.

The combination of rising mortgage rates and home prices have weighed on sales of previously occupied U.S. homes, which fell in September for the fourth month in a row, grinding to their slowest pace in more than a decade.

This average rate on a 30-year mortgage is now at the lowest level it's been since the first week of October, when it was 7.49%.

Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loan, also declined, with the average rate falling to 6.81% from 7.03% last week. A year ago, it averaged 6.38%, Freddie Mac said.

The average rate on a 30-year home loan climbed above 6% in September 2022 and has remained above that threshold since, reaching 7.79% two weeks ago. That was the highest average on record going back to late 2000.

Rates have risen along with the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing loans.