Mortgage rates drop to lowest levels since August

Mortgage rates continued to fall this week, averaging just over 7%. It is the sixth straight week rates have dropped, undoing seven previous consecutive weeks of increases.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to an average of 7.03% in the week ending December 7, down from 7.22% the week before, according to data from Freddie Mac released Thursday. A year ago, the average 30-year fixed-rate was 6.33%

The average rate rose above 7% in mid-August and reached as high as 7.79% at the end of October. But several weeks of declining rates could be a sign that the highest mortgage rates of this cycle have passed, welcome news for would-be buyers facing the least affordable market since the 1980s.

Following the October job openings data, which showed some cooling in the labor market when it was released on Tuesday, the 10-year treasury yield dropped to its lowest level in three months.

“Looking ahead, we predict that sustained improvement in inflation will bring the mortgage rate down to 6.5% by the end of 2024,” said Xu. “Nonetheless, as mortgage rates stay elevated, ongoing high housing costs indicate that the cooling trend in the nationwide housing market is likely to persist.”

https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/07/homes/mortgage-rates-drop-for-the-sixth-week-in-a-row/index.html