A sign noting the availability of a home is displayed in Rolling Meadows, Ill., Monday, June 10, 2024. On Thursday, June 13, 2024, Freddie Mac reports on this week’s average U.S. mortgage rates. Mortgage rates eased again this week, though the latest pullback leaves the average rate on a 30-year home loan at close to 7%, where it's been much of this year.
Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, also eased this week, lowering the average rate to 6.17% from 6.29% last week. A year ago, it averaged 6.10%, Freddie Mac said. Home loan rates are influenced by several factors, including how the bond market reacts to the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy and the moves in the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans.
Until the Fed begins lowering its short-term rate, long-term mortgage rates are unlikely to ease significantly, economists say.