Key Takeaways
- The average rate offered for a 30-year mortgage fell for an eighth week, hitting 6.67%, its lowest since June, according to Freddie Mac.
- Mortgage rates have fallen more than an entire percentage point since hitting 7.79% in late October, though they’re still more than double what they were in early 2022.
- Lower mortgage rates are just what would-be homebuyers have been waiting for since higher rates mean that buying the same-priced home costs hundreds more a month than when rates were lower.
- High mortgage rates and record prices have combined to make home ownership unaffordable for many first-time buyers.
Buying a house is getting more affordable—or maybe just less unaffordable.
The average rate offered for a 30-year fixed mortgage fell for an eighth week to 6.67%, the lowest since June, mortgage giant Freddie Mac said Thursday.
That’s a significant break for homebuyers, who were looking at an average rate of 7.79%—the highest since 2000—in late October. High mortgage rates have combined with record-high prices to push the costs of home ownership out of reach for most people.
Since then, inflation has cooled down and the Federal Reserve has signaled it will cut its benchmark interest rate next year, pushing rates down. Lower mortgage rates in November breathed some life into the housing market, spurring an uptick in home sales that had been stifled by high rates.
Despite the break, rates are still more than double what they were in early 2022. Forecasters expect mortgages to continue to get cheaper in 2024.
