The average rate on a 30-year mortgage in the U.S. declined for the third week in a row, another positive move for prospective homebuyers during what’s traditionally the housing market’s busy season.
The rate fell to 6.62% from 6.64% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.88%.
The average rate has mostly trended lower since reaching just over 7% in mid-January. When mortgage rates decline, they boost homebuyers’ purchasing power.
Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, were unchanged from last week. The average rate remained at 5.82%, but is down 6.16% a year ago, Freddie Mac said.
Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, including global demand for U.S. Treasurys, the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy decisions and bond market investors’ expectations for future inflation.
The average rate on a 30-year mortgage loosely follows moves in the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans.
The yield, which has mostly fallen this year after climbing to around 4.8% in mid-January, has been volatile of late as bond investors reacted to the Trump administration’s decision to escalate U.S. tariffs on goods imported from nations around the world.
After sliding to just 4.01% at the end of last week, the 10-year Treasury yield climbed to nearly 4.5% Wednesday morning. It was at 4.34% in midday trading Thursday following the White House’s decision to temporarily pause the new tariffs on most nations, even while increasing import taxes on China.
