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By ALEX VEIGA, AP Business Writer
MCLEAN, Va. (AP) — The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate is now down to its lowest level in more than three years.
The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate eased to 6.06% this week, down from 6.16% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. One year ago, the rate averaged 7.04%.
The last time the average rate was lower was Sept. 15, 2022, when it was at 6.02%.
Meanwhile, borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, also fell this week, dropping to 5.38% from 5.46% last week. A year ago it averaged 6.27%, Freddie Mac said.
Lower mortgage rates boost homebuyers’ purchasing power, good news for home shoppers at a time when the housing market remains in a deep slump after years of soaring prices and elevated mortgage rates have shut out many aspiring homeowners.
Mortgage rates have been easing since late summer. That helped drive sales of previously occupied U.S. homes higher on a monthly basis the last four months of 2025. Even so, home sales remained stuck at a 30-year low last year, extending the housing market’s slump into its fourth year.
The pullback in mortgage rates has spurred a sharp increase in homeowners seeking to refinance their existing home loan to a lower rate. That trend has continued into this year.
Applications for mortgage refinancing loans soared 40% last week from the previous week and accounted for 60% of all home loan applications, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Applications for loans to buy a home climbed 16%.
“With mortgage rates much lower than a year ago and edging closer to 6%, MBA expects strong interest from homeowners seeking a refinance and would-be buyers stepping off the sidelines,” said MBA CEO Bob Broeksmit.
Economists generally expect mortgage rates to ease further this year, though most recent forecasts show the average rate on a 30-year mortgage remaining above 6%, about twice what it was six years ago.
Still, rates would have to drop considerably for homeowners, who bought or refinanced when mortgage rates hit rock bottom earlier this decade, to take on a new loan at a far higher rate.
Nearly 69% of U.S. homes with an outstanding mortgage have a fixed-rate of 5% or lower, and slightly more than half have a rate at or below 4%, according to Realtor.com.
Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy decisions to bond market investors’ expectations for the economy and inflation. They generally follow the trajectory of the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans.
The 10-year yield was at 4.16% at midday Thursday, down from 4.18% a week ago.
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The Associated Press
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