A “For Sale” sign is displayed in front of a home in Skokie, Ill., Sunday, April 14, 2024. On Thursday, Mat 23, 2024, Freddie Mac reports on this week’s average U.S. mortgage rates. LOS ANGELES — The average rate on a 30-year mortgage dipped this week to just below 7% for the first time since mid April, a modest boost for home shoppers navigating a housing market dampened by rising prices and relatively few available properties.
This is the third straight weekly decline in the average rate. The recent pullbacks follow a five-week string of increases that pushed the average rate to its highest level since November 30. Higher mortgage rates can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, limiting homebuyers’ purchasing options.
Mortgage 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.Average long-term US mortgage rate snaps five-week string of increases, but remains above 7%Still, the Fed has maintained it doesn’t plan to cut interest rates until it has greater confidence that price increases are slowing sustainably to its 2% target.