The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage barely inched up this week, continuing the summer trend of essentially being flat.
While sales and price growth have softened these last few months, this leveling of rates may be helping more buyers reach the market. Purchase mortgage applications this week were once again modestly above year ago levels.

Information provided by Freddie Mac.

Mortgage rates inched backward this week to their lowest level since mid-April.
Backed by very strong consumer spending, the economy is red-hot this month, which is in turn rippling through the financial markets and driving equities higher.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the housing market, where it appears sales activity crested in late 2017. Existing-home sales have now stepped back annually for the fifth straight month, and purchase mortgage applications this week were barely above year ago levels.

Mortgage rates remained mostly flat over the past week, which has been the dominant theme since late spring.
This stability in borrowing costs comes despite the highest core inflation rates since 2008 and turbulence in the currency markets. Unfortunately, this pause in rates is not leading to increasing home sales.
Purchase mortgage applications trailed year ago levels again last week, and it’s clear in some markets that the combination of ascending home prices, limited affordable inventory and this year’s higher rates are curtailing homebuyer demand.

Mortgage rates have mostly drifted sideways this summer. This stability is much needed for home sales, which have crested because of the multi-year run up in prices, tight affordable inventory and this year’s higher rates. Going forward, the strong economy will support the housing market, but with affordability pressures mounting, further spikes in mortgage rates will lead to continued softening in home price growth.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage drifted up for the second consecutive week to 4.60 percent.
The higher rate environment, coupled with the ongoing lack of affordable inventory, has led to a drag on existing-home sales in the last few months. Yesterday, the Federal Reserve passed on raising short-term rates, but with the embers of a strong economy potentially stoking higher inflation, borrowing costs will likely modestly rise in coming months.
Even with home price growth easing slightly in some markets, mortgage rates hovering near a seven-year high will certainly create affordability challenges for some prospective buyers looking to close.

Mortgage rates moved up slightly over the past week to their highest level since late June.
The next few months will be key for gauging the health of the housing market. Existing sales appear to have peaked, sales of newly built homes are slowing and unsold inventory is rising for the first time in three years.

Mortgage rates were once again mostly flat over the past week, inching backward slightly.
Manufacturing output and consumer spending showed improvements, but construction activity was a disappointment. This meant there was no driving force to move mortgage rates in any meaningful way, which has been the theme in the last two months. That’s good news for price sensitive home shoppers, given that this stability in borrowing costs allows them a little extra time to find the right home.

Mortgage rates were mostly unchanged, but did tick up for the first time since early June.
The 10-year Treasury yield continues to hover along the same narrow range, as increased global trade tensions are causing investors to take a cautious approach. This in turn has kept borrowing costs at bay, which is certainly welcoming news for those looking to buy a home before the summer ends.

After a rapid increase throughout most of the spring, mortgage rates have now declined in five of the past six weeks.
The run-up in mortgage rates earlier this year represented not just a rise in risk-free borrowing costs, but for investors, the mortgage spread also rose back to more normal levels by about 20 basis points. What that means for buyers is good news. Mortgage rates may have a little more room to decline over the very short term.

Mortgage rates declined over the past week and have now retreated in four of the past five weeks. The decrease in borrowing costs are a nice slice of relief for prospective buyers looking to get into the market this summer. Some are undoubtedly feeling the affordability hit from swift price appreciation and mortgage rates that are still 67 basis points higher than this week a year ago.