LOS ANGELES — The average rate on a 30-year mortgage fell slightly this week, providing modest relief for home shoppers facing record-high home prices.
Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, also fell this week, pulling the average rate down to 6.17% from 6.25% last week. A year ago, it averaged 6.30%, Freddie Mac said. “Following June’s jobs report, which showed a cooling labor market, the 10-year Treasury yield decreased this week and mortgage rates followed suit,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.
Most economists expect the Fed’s first rate cut to come in September, with potentially another cut by year’s end. Record-high home prices and a rising, but still historically limited, supply of properties on the market discouraged many would-be homebuyers this spring, traditionally the busiest period of the year for the housing market.