Mortgage rates slide to lowest since May - Freddie Mac

Applied Energetics

28/12/2023 17:00

Dec 28 (Reuters) - The interest rate on the most common
type of U.S. home loan fell for a ninth straight week this week
to close out the year at their lowest level since May, according
to data released Thursday by Freddie Mac.
    The interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged
6.61% as of Dec. 28, down from 6.67% a week earlier. The rate
has declined each week since hitting the highest level in 22
years in late October, tumbling 1.18 percentage points in that
span.
    Rates, which had tumbled to below 3% during the height of
the COVID-19 pandemic, had surged starting in 2022 when the
Federal Reserve began an aggressive rate hiking campaign to rein
in inflation.
    The Fed recently signaled that it is done with rate hikes
and is likely to start lowering them in 2024. Bond markets have
responded with a ferocious end-of-year rally that has brought
yields on the 10-year Treasury note used to set mortgage rates
to below 4% from around 5% in late October.

 (Reporting By Dan Burns)
 ((Daniel.Burns@thomsonreuters.com;))