Mortgage Rates Hit Lowest Point Since 2023
Summary from the AllSides News Team
The U.S. Housing Market may be slightly more accessible now, with average rates on 30-year fixed mortgages dropping to 6.47%, a rate that has not been seen since May 2023.
The Details: Information, released by mortgage-finance giant Freddie Mac on Thursday, revealed the most drastic rate decline in about 9 months. This comes amid a subpar jobs report and a tumultuous week in the stock market, leading many to speculate, not on whether the Federal Reserve will issue rate cuts in either July or September, but rather on how big those cuts might be.
For Context: The dropping mortgage rates, although partly due to the Fed’s expected rate drops, are not explicitly controlled by the Federal Reserve. Mortgage rates are closely tied to the Bond market, specifically the yields on 10-year Treasury bonds, which following the jobs report and expected Fed cuts fell sharply, causing Mortgage rates to follow suit.
How The Media Covered It: Media across the political spectrum agreed that the lower rates were due in part to the jobs report and markets but highlighted differing concerns for the future. Outlets on the right, like Fox Business (Lean Right bias), focused on how the upcoming 2024 presidential election was altering many people’s buying decisions, causing them to postpone any major moves until after the elections. Outlets on the left tended to focus on sentiments for housing market futures but also tended to omit the presidential elections as a factor.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Left
Here's why mortgage rates dropped to their lowest level in more than a yearMortgage rates this week dropped to their lowest level in more than a year, delivering some long-sought relief for homebuyers.
The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage stands at 6.47%, Freddie Mac said on Thursday. That figure marks a drop of more than a percentage point from a peak attained last year after the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates in an effort to fight inflation.
From the Center
Mortgage Rates Drop to 15-Month LowMortgage rates fell to the lowest level in more than a year, raising hopes for relief in the battered U.S. housing market.
The average rate on the standard 30-year fixed mortgage fell around a quarter percentage point to 6.47%, according to a survey of lenders released Thursday by mortgage-finance giant Freddie Mac, a low not seen since May 2023 and the sharpest weekly decline in around nine months.
From the Right
Mortgage rates drop to lowest rate in more than a yearMortgage rates dipped significantly this week, dropping to the lowest level in more than a year, according to Freddie Mac. Rates for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.47%, down from 6.73% last week.
"Mortgage rates plunged this week to their lowest level in over a year following the likely overreaction to a less than favorable employment report and financial market turbulence for an economy that remains on solid footing," Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater said.
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