Prospective home buyers received some good news this week as mortgage rates dropped to 3 year lows. The average rate for a 30 year fixed mortgage dropped to 3.81 percent and the 15 year fixed dropped to 3.09 percent¹. These are the lowest average rates since November 2016.
Mortgage rates on the 30 year fixed in 2018 reached as high as 4.87 percent and started 2019 at 4.46 percent².
“Lower rates have also increased the buying power for prospective homebuyers looking to purchase the average-priced home by the equivalent of 15%, meaning that they could effectively buy $45,000 ‘more house’ while still keeping their payments the same as they would have been last fall,” said Ben Graboske, president of Black Knight Data and Analytics³.
This increase in buying power and affordability could lead to a busy fall season for Houston real estate. The biggest question is: how long will it last? Since mortgage rates are influenced by many market conditions, it’s possible that we will see some volatility in the coming months.
If you have been on the fence about making an offer on a home or starting the home buying process, now may be a good time.
- https://www.bankrate.com/mortgages/rates/mortgage-rates-for-wednesday-august-7/
- http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/pmms30.html
- https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/05/mortgage-rates-sink-to-3-year-low.html
