Good news for home buyers: mortgage rates are dropping.
Within the past week, mortgage rates dropped to their lowest level since October of last year.
Right now, the average mortgage rate for a 30-year fixed conforming loan, which is anything under $806,500, is 6.67% – a drop from 6.73% last week.
That slight drop has been enough to spur more demand for mortgages. Total mortgage applications rose 11.2% week to week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index.
Many homeowners who bought over the past two years have rates that are much higher than what is available today. As a result, applications to refinance a home loan, which are most influenced by weekly rate changes, climbed 16% from the previous week and were 90% higher than the same week one year ago.
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