Homeowners are rushing to refinance their mortgages after rates finally dropped
CNN
The standard, 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.49% this week, up slightly from the prior week’s level, Freddie Mac reported Thursday. But that’s still well below this year’s peak and the two-decade high last fall — and that appears to be enough to entice homeowners to refinance.
The standard, 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.49% this week, up slightly from the prior week’s level, Freddie Mac reported Thursday. But that’s still well below this year’s peak and the two-decade high last fall — and that appears to be enough to entice homeowners to refinance. Mortgage applications surged 17% last week, driven by homeowners seeking to refinance, up by a staggering 35%, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday. Mortgage rates plummeted last week to their lowest level in more than a year, according to figures from mortgage financing giant Freddie Mac. And borrowing costs are expected to fall even further later this year if the Federal Reserve delivers on the interest rate cuts widely expected by economists and investors. Despite declining mortgage rates, America’s housing market remains unaffordable for many Americans, especially those with low incomes living in urban population centers with fast home-price growth, such as San Diego and New York. Home prices have reached record highs multiple times this year, according to data from S&P Global and separately from the National Association of Realtors. “Housing has a lot of challenges ahead of it, not the least of which are high mortgage rates, high home prices and a lack of inventory,” Tom Porcelli, chief US economist at PGIM Fixed Income, told CNN in an interview. “The average payment on a mortgage is still double from four years ago.” A persistent shortage of available housing units in many markets across the country is continuing to boost home prices. There have been some big steps toward a more affordable market this year, with total housing inventory improving every single month so far in 2024, NAR data show. But demand still exceeds supply.
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