Mortgage rates were unchanged this week, holding steady at the lowest levels since late 2024.
The average 30-year mortgage rate was 6.58% this week through Wednesday, according to Freddie Mac data. The average 15-year mortgage rate declined slightly to 5.69%, from 5.71% a week earlier.
Treasury yields, which mortgage rates closely track, have stayed relatively flat in recent days amid a quieter week for economic data releases. Investors have been closely monitoring inflation and jobs data for clues about the health of the US economy. Lower mortgage rates in recent weeks, after a weak August jobs report, combined with mixed readings on inflation, boosted the odds of a Federal Reserve rate cut next month.
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Traders currently see a 77% chance of a 25 basis point rate cut next month, according to CME FedWatch. The Fed doesn’t control mortgage rates directly, though mortgage rates are influenced by market perceptions of the path of benchmark rates. Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell will speak on Friday at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, an event Wall Street is closely watching for clues on the direction of interest rates from here.
Mortgage applications have remained stagnant even as rates have held at slightly lower levels. Refinancing activity dropped 3% through Friday from a week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, and applications to purchase a new home were essentially flat.
“I think there are a lot of people on the sidelines just kind of waiting and seeing,” said Gary Pierce, a mortgage loan officer at Pure Funding in Weatherford, Texas. He thinks rates would need to fall below 6% to bring many would-be homebuyers back to the market.
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Even though rates remain elevated, there are some signs that buyers are responding to a softening housing market. Home prices nationwide are nearly flat from a year ago, though regionally, prices are falling in the West and South and rising in the Northeast and the Midwest. Higher inventory levels have also given buyers more negotiating power in many markets.
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Existing home sales rose 2% in July from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.01 million homes, according to National Association of Realtors data released on Thursday. That’s a 0.8% improvement from a year ago, though still near historical lows seen since mortgage rates began rising in mid-2022.
“One can say things are a little better today as a buyer compared to, say, a couple of years ago,” said Lawrence Yun, the NAR’s chief economist.
