Mortgage rates fell for the fourth week in a row, giving home buyers a little relief in an expensive market.
The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage was 7.11 percent for the week ending Nov. 12, down from 7.18 percent a week earlier, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly survey. It is the lowest reading in seven weeks. The 15-year rate fell to 6.45 percent from 6.57 percent.
Freddie Mac’s chief economist, Sam Khater, called the decline “a welcome development” for borrowers.
The longer view
Rates are still well above where they stood a year ago, when the 30-year loan averaged 6.24 percent and the 15-year averaged 5.49 percent.
The difference is real money. On a $400,000 loan, the monthly payment of principal and interest is about $2,690 at today’s rate. At last year’s rate it would have been about $2,460, or roughly $230 less each month.
Will it last?
Possibly not. Mortgage rates tend to follow the bond market, and a hot inflation report this week raised expectations that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates as soon as next month. Daily rate trackers already showed an uptick on Thursday.
For families weighing a purchase or a refinance, the practical advice from lenders is the usual one: compare several quotes, and ask what it would cost to lock in a rate.