Mortgage rate averages have moved little in the past few weeks — but that stability is enough to lure some homebuyers into the spring housing market.
On a weekly basis, the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.65% as of Thursday, according to mortgage giant Freddie Mac, a buyer of loans from banks. Daily measures from Mortgage News Daily showed that rate was at 6.8%, unchanged from the previous day.
Despite some minor fluctuations, the average has been mostly consistent for the past few weeks.
“The entirety of the past few weeks has seen rates calmly holding a narrow range at the lowest average level since early October 2024,” Matthew Graham, chief operating officer at Mortgage News Daily, wrote in a blog post Wednesday.
The 15-year, fixed-rate average, on the other hand, increased slightly, climbing to 5.89% from 5.8%, according to Freddie Mac. Mortgage News Daily’s measure showed the rate, popular with homeowners looking to refinance, was also slightly higher than the previous day, at 6.22% as of Thursday afternoon.
Though the averages saw minute changes this week, even the slightest pressure upward or downward on mortgage rates can create real implications for mortgage holders. For example, if a homebuyer purchased a $400,000 house with no down payment last year, they’d be paying about $538,000 in interest over the term of that mortgage. For that same purchase today, a buyer would pay about $524,000 in interest.
Homebuyers get in on the spring market
Even as rates have remained mostly consistent, the recent fluctuations have been enough to create meaningful change for homebuyers and homeowners.
Though overall measures of mortgage applications, including purchases and refinances, have softened in the past two weeks, the trend among homebuyers is more nuanced than it appears, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
In the week ended March 21, for example, the broadest measure of application volume decreased 2%. But that was mostly driven by a drop-off in refinances because applications for mortgages to purchase a home actually increased for the fifth consecutive week during that time.
“As rates continue to decline this spring — albeit at a slow pace — homebuyer demand is on the rise,” Bob Broeksmit, president and CEO of the association, said of the trend in a statement Thursday.
For first-time homebuyers especially, the recent mortgage rate behavior has incentivized market activity. The most recent weekly application data showed that first-time buyer applications surged 6%, “as the combination of loosening housing inventory and slowly declining mortgage rates has presented this segment of buyers with more opportunities,” Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist, said in a statement.
Economists expect that through the end of this year, mortgage rates will continue moderating, bringing even more homebuyers off the sidelines.
“A meaningful decline in mortgage rates would help both demand and supply — demand by boosting affordability and supply by lessening the power of the mortgage rate lock-in effect,” Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, said in a statement Thursday.
“Considering the Federal Reserve’s recent forecast for slower economic growth, we expect mortgage rates to slide moderately lower,” Yun said. “But the current high national debt will prevent mortgage rates from falling drastically — and certainly not to the 4%-to-5% range seen during President Trump’s first term.”