Mortgage Rates Drop to 5-Month Low

• October 8, 2015

by Tianna Mañón

Mortgage rates dropped to their lowest level since late April on Thursday.

The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 3.76 percent with an average 0.6 point this week, according to Freddie Mac. That is a drop from 3.85 percent last week, and rates have now been below 4 percent for almost three months.

Home buyers can thank a dismal September jobs report for the drop in rates.

“Calling the September jobs report disappointing is an understatement,” said Sean Becketti, chief economist at Freddie Mac. “The sputtering U.S. economy added only 142,000 jobs. To make matters worse, there were downward revisions to the prior two months. Hourly wages were flat, and the labor force participation rate fell to 62.4 percent, the lowest rate since 1977. In response, Treasury yields dipped below 2 percent triggering a 9 basis point tumble in the 30-year mortgage rate to 3.76 percent.”

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.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/mortgage_rates_drop_to_5-month_low/10432