Mortgage interest rates inch down in slow-moving pattern

Mortgage rates have fluctuated less than 20 basis points in the past five weeks, in a pattern Freddie Mac says resembles stability for consumers. 

The 30-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 6.85% Thursday, down two basis points from last week. After scraping 7% last month, the 30-year FRM has hovered under that barrier for five straight weeks, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey. 

“This stability continues to bode well for potential buyers and sellers as we approach the spring homebuying season,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, in a press release Thursday. 

A year ago, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.9%. Since that time, it climbed past 7% last spring and dipped near 6% after the Federal Reserve’s first rate cut last fall, before rising to its current mark. 

Homebuyers seeking 15-year FRMs saw rates average 6.04%, a decrease of five basis points this week. A year ago, that product averaged 6.29%. 

This past week featured no major economic movers, such as last week’s Consumer Price Index which temporarily jolted rates, said Kara Ng, senior economist at Zillow Home Loans in a press release Wednesday evening. Rates were also unswayed earlier this month following a hotter-than anticipated inflation report that pushed Treasury yields up.

Slight rate dips in the past few weeks prompted a short-lived refinance bump, but consumers last week walked back to the sidelines, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Homes today are taking longer to sell, and homeowners are increasingly offering price cuts to close deals, said Ng.

“Buyers who can afford homes at today’s interest rates may find they have more time to consider their options and greater leverage in negotiations,” said Ng. 

Mortgage customers could be adopting the Fed’s “wait-and-see” approach, as industry stakeholders weigh the impact of the Trump Administration’s swift actions. Home builders have also raised alarm over the effect of President Trump’s looming steel and aluminum tariffs, set to go into effect next month.