Mortgage rates slid again this week, marking the ninth consecutive week of decline after hitting 8% in October.
The rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage declined to 6.61% as of Thursday, according to the latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey from Freddie Mac. The rate slipped 0.06% from the week prior.
In addition to the 30-year term, the mortgage rate also fell to 5.93% for the 15-year term. The mortgage rate slipped 0.02 points from 5.95% from the week prior.
The decline in mortgage rates marks the ninth consecutive week it fell. Overall, rates have dipped by a full point from October.
Mortgage rates are expected to continue improving and may hit an average of 6.3% in 2024, as forecasted by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). On the other hand, economists at Realtor.com said they expect mortgage rates to average 6.5% by the end of 2024.
Pending Home Sales Remain Low
Despite a consistent dip in mortgage rates, pending home sales reported in November remained stuck at a 22-year low, according to a report posted Thursday by the NAR. The index for pending home sales last month stayed at 71.6, which was below the 0.9% increase that economists polled by Bloomberg had estimated.
Regionally, pending sales rose 4.2% in the West, 0.8% in the Northeast, and 0.5% in the Midwest. However, it fell 2.3% in the South. Still, pending sales in November were lower in all regions compared to the same month in 2022.
"Lower mortgage rates don't fix all the troubles in the housing market," Keith Gumbinger, vice president of HSH.com, told Yahoo Finance.
"While they do help with affordability, they do little to increase the number of homes for sale in the market (which has throttled sales activity despite high financing costs), and the increase in buyer demand that lower rates may bring at the margins will likely serve to press home prices higher," he added.
In contrast to low pending home sales, the volume of refinance applications jumped as much as 19% in the week ending Dec. 8. Compared to October 2023, applications also increased by 12%, as reported by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).
