4.31: Mortgage Rates Dip Slightly

• July 25, 2013

by Shilpi Paul

For the second week in a row, mortgage rates dipped slightly.

On Thursday morning, Freddie Mac reported 4.31 percent with an average 0.8 point as the average on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage.

Since late June, rates have been wavering around the mid-4 percent range. Last week, rates averaged 4.37 percent. Two weeks ago, they averaged 4.51 percent.

From Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist Frank Nothaft on today’s rates:

Mortgage rates eased for the second consecutive week which should help to alleviate market concerns of a slowdown in the housing market. Thus far, existing home sales for June were the second highest since November 2009 and new home sales were the strongest since May 2008. In addition, the low inventories of homes for purchase are putting upward pressure on house prices.

The UrbanTurf Mortgage Rate Disclaimer: The rates reported by Freddie Mac for 30-year mortgages are usually the best rates that the most qualified borrowers can get, so borrowers or those considering refinancing should not necessarily read this news and think that they can go out and get a loan with the quoted interest rate.

Here’s a look at the path of rates since January 2010:

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/4.31_mortgage_rates_dip_slightly/7370