Rate Cuts

Mortgage rates remained basically unchanged last week as markets adjust to economic expectations for 2024. Officials at Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.62%, inching up from the week prior’s 6.61%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.48%. This is the first increase since October. Rates have fallen more than a full percentage point since then, giving homebuyers more breathing room as they struggle against record-high unaffordability. The 15-year fixed rate dropped, however, from 5.93% to 5.89%. A year ago, it averaged 5.73%. Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater ascribed the news to the slow machinations of the market as it “digests incoming economic data.” He pointed out that rates stopped their…