Mortgage Rates Fall to Lowest Level in a Month. Housing Market Could See a Continued Rebound.
Mortgage applications increased for the third consecutive week, despite the ongoing volatility in the financial markets and the broader economy.
Prospective home buyers have bank sector tumult to thank for a sharp drop in mortgage rates. One closely watched indicator of rates this week fell to its lowest level in a month.
Freddie Mac ‘s weekly reading of the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.42% as of Thursday, according to its most recent Primary Mortgage Market Survey. The rate, which represents a drop of 0.18 percentage point from the week prior, is the lowest since the week of Feb. 16, according to Freddie Mac data.
“Mortgage rates continued to slide down as financial market concerns came to the fore over the last two weeks,” Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said in a statement. Rates had gained through much of February as investors had anticipated a more aggressive Federal Reserve—but began to fall amid concerns about banks that began with the failure of Silicon Valley Bank.
