Mortgage interest rates have gone from astonishingly low to almost ridiculously low in a closely followed survey that’s been tracking rates for almost half a century.
The extremely low mortgage rates are pulling would-be homebuyers out of COVID-19 lockdown and into the housing market, in what mortgage giant Freddie Mac is calling a “remarkable turnaround” for mortgage demand.
Homeowners are clinching rock-bottom rates, too, and are saving tens of thousands of dollars by refinancing.
Average mortgage rates skid to new record low
Red percent sign on a background of money. The concept of changing prices on the market
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Mortgage rates have hit another new all-time low
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Mortgage rates have dropped this week to an average 3.15% for a 30-year fixed-rate home loan, from last week’s 3.24%, Freddie Mac reported on Thursday.
“The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has again hit the lowest level in our survey’s nearly 50-year history, breaking the record for the third time in just the last few months,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.
The survey rates come with an average 0.7 point. Last year at this time, the typical rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage was a steeper 3.99%.
The benchmark mortgage rate hasn’t gone any higher than 3.33%, on average, since the beginning of April, and Freddie Mac predicts rates will stay low throughout the year. The firm is forecasting that 30-year mortgage rates will average 3.3% during 2020, way down from last year’s 3.9%.
But researchers at Realtor.com have predicted that average rates “may slide under 3% by the end of the year,” and some sub-3% rates are already out there. You just have to know where to find them.
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