US Mortgage Rates Drop Below 5pc For First Time Since April.

Lahore -- Mortgage rates dropped for the second week in a row, falling below 5 percent for the first time since mid-April. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.99 percent in the week ending August 4, down from 5.3 percent the week before, according to Freddie Mac. But that is still significantly higher than this time last year when it was 2.77 percent. Rates rose sharply at the start of the year, hitting a high of 5.81 percent in mid-June. But since then, economic concerns have made them more volatile. 'Mortgage rates remained volatile due to the tug of war between inflationary pressures and a clear slowdown in economic growth,' said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac's chief economist. The up and down is expected to continue, he said. 'The high uncertainty surrounding inflation and other factors will likely cause rates to remain variable, especially as the Federal Reserve attempts to navigate the current economic environment.' The drop comes as surprisingly positive reports for some economic indicators counterbalanced the talk of looming recession, said George Ratiu, Realtor.com's manager of economic research. 'Without...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT