Here’s welcome news for home shoppers: Borrowing costs got cheaper this week. Mortgage rates are back under 3% for the first time in weeks.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.97% this week, Freddie Mac reports.
The drop in rates this week followed a downward trend for the 10-year Treasury yield, which rates closely follow. The economy is gaining momentum, however, and consumers can expect mortgage rates to rise in the upcoming months, Nadia Evangelou, senior economist and director of forecasting for the National Association of REALTORS®, writes at the association’s Economists’ Outlook blog.
For now, the drop in mortgage rates is good news for home buyers and homeowners, too, said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “Freddie Mac research suggests that lower income and minority homeowners have been less likely to engage in the refinance market,” Khater said. “Low and declining mortgage rates provide these homeowners the opportunity to reduce their monthly payment and improve their financial position.” [Read More]
Source: “Instant Reaction: Mortgage Rates, April 22, 2021,” National Association of REALTORS® Economists’ Outlook blog (April 22, 2021) and Freddie Mac
Arielle Dixon 