Money Research Collective’s editorial team solely created this content. Opinions are their own, but compensation and in-depth research determine where and how companies may appear. Many featured companies advertise with us. How we make money.
Mortgage Rates Decline for Sixth Week: Freddie Mac
By Leslie Cook MONEY RESEARCH COLLECTIVE
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is now averaging 6.27%, according to Freddie Mac.
Mortgage rates are lower for the sixth week in a row.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is now averaging 6.27%, according to Freddie Mac, a decrease of 0.04 percentage points over the previous week. With today’s decrease, the 30-year rate is at its lowest point since mid-September. The average rate on a 15-year fixed-rate loan, on the other hand, moved higher to 5.69%.
“Heading into the holidays, mortgage rates continued to move down,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, in a statement. “Rates have declined significantly over the past six weeks, which is helpful for potential homebuyers.
The recent decline in mortgage rates gave homebuyers a little bit of breathing room in terms of affordability.
The national median mortgage payment for borrowers applying for loans in November decreased to $1,977, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Purchase Applications Payment Index. This represents a decrease of 1.8% from October when the median monthly payment was $2,012.
“MBA expects both mortgage rates and home-price growth to moderate, which may encourage additional buyers to return to the housing market in the coming months,” said Edward Seiler, MBA’s associate vice president of housing economics, in a statement.
The mortgage rate slide continues as a recession appears more likely
Today’s slightly lower rates came as the market turns its focus to 2023.
“Investors increasingly appear to be gauging the likelihood of a recession coming in the next year,” said Matthew Speakman, senior economist at Zillow Home Loans, in a statement. “Recent weakness in retail sales figures stoked some of these concerns.”
Speakman was referring to a release by the Commerce Department last Thursday showing that retail sales for the month of November were down by 0.6% month-over-month, much weaker than the 0.1% slowdown that had been anticipated.
Despite indications that inflation may be on the decline, many economists believe there is a 70% chance of a recession occurring in 2023 as the effect of the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes continue to take effect and the economy shows more signs of a slowdown.
Today’s downward movement in rates could be indicative of a long-term trend or merely part of the typical volatility seen at year’s end, notes Speakman.
“It’s likely that a more substantive move in mortgage rates won’t occur until early January, when the next read on a key inflation gauge is due,” he added.
More from Money:
Leslie Cook is the Lead Mortgage Reporter covering real estate and mortgages for Money. She started out over 30 years ago as a business reporter with Caribbean Business newspaper in San Juan, Puerto Rico, covering computers, and human resources. Her work has also appeared in Reuters and she graduated Cum Laude from Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania with a bacheloru2019s degree in history.