The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate is now down to its lowest level in more than three years.<\/p>\n
The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate eased to 6.06% this week, down from 6.16% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. One year ago, the rate averaged 7.04%.<\/p>\n
The last time the average rate was lower was Sept. 15, 2022, when it was at 6.02%.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, also fell this week, dropping to 5.38% from 5.46% last week. A year ago, that average rate was at 6.27%, Freddie Mac said.<\/p>\n
Lower mortgage rates boost homebuyers\u2019 purchasing power, good news for home shoppers at a time when the housing market remains in a deep slump after years of soaring prices and elevated mortgage rates have shut out many aspiring homeowners.<\/p>\n
Uncertainty over the economy and job market are also keeping many would-be buyers on the sidelines.<\/p>\n
Mortgage rates began easing in July in anticipation of a series of Fed rate cuts, which began in September and continued last month.<\/p>\n
The Fed doesn\u2019t set mortgage rates, but when it cuts its short-term rate that can signal lower inflation or slower economic growth ahead, which can drive investors to buy U.S. government bonds. That can help lower yields on long-term U.S. Treasurys, which can result in lower mortgage rates.<\/p>\n
The pullback in mortgage rates helped drive sales of previously occupied U.S. homes higher on a monthly basis the last four months of 2025. Even so, home sales remained stuck at a 30-year low last year, extending the housing market\u2019s slump into its fourth year.<\/p>\n
Lower mortgage rates have been helpful for home shoppers who can afford to buy at current rates. The median U.S. monthly housing payment fell to $2,413 in the four weeks ending Jan. 11, according to Redfin. That\u2019s a 5.5% drop from the same period a year earlier and near the lowest level in two years.<\/p>\n
The latest drop in rates comes after President Donald Trump announced last week that the federal government would buy $200 billion in mortgage bonds in a bid to reduce mortgage rates.<\/p>\n
Lower rates spurred a sharp increase in homeowners seeking to refinance their existing home loan to a lower rate last fall, a trend that has continued into this year.<\/p>\n
Applications for mortgage refinancing loans soared 40% last week from the previous week and accounted for 60% of all home loan applications, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Applications for loans to buy a home climbed 16%.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith mortgage rates much lower than a year ago and edging closer to 6%, MBA expects strong interest from homeowners seeking a refinance and would-be buyers stepping off the sidelines,\u201d said MBA CEO Bob Broeksmit.<\/p>\n
Economists generally expect mortgage rates to ease further this year, though most recent forecasts show the average rate on a 30-year mortgage remaining above 6%, about twice what it was six years ago.<\/p>\n
Still, rates would have to drop considerably for homeowners, who bought or refinanced when mortgage rates hit rock bottom earlier this decade, to take on a new loan at a far higher rate.<\/p>\n
Nearly 69% of U.S. homes with an outstanding mortgage have a fixed-rate of 5% or lower, and slightly more than half have a rate at or below 4%, according to Realtor.com.<\/p>\n
— Alex Veiga, The Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate is now down to its lowest level in more than three years.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":522350,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[12],"tags":[64,79,17819,7065,1435,10559,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-522349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-house","tag-housing","tag-mortgage","tag-residential","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115909527092222286","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=522349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522349\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/522350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}