Prospective homebuyers may be benefiting from the luck of the Irish this week as mortgage rates fall.
Officials at Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate averaged 6.60%, down from 6.73% the week prior.
A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.16%.
The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage dipped from 5.95% to 5.90%. A year ago, it averaged 3.39%.
“Mortgage rates are down following an increase of more than half a percent over five consecutive weeks,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist.
“Turbulence in the financial markets is putting significant downward pressure on rates, which should benefit borrowers in the short term. During times of high mortgage rate volatility, homebuyers would greatly benefit from shopping for additional rate quotes. Our research concludes that homebuyers can potentially save $600 to $1,200 annually by taking the time to shop among multiple lenders.”
Rates had been on a steady upward trend due to sticky inflation, which hit an annual rate of 6% in the latest Federal data.
Analysts expected an aggressive rate hike from the Federal Reserve at their meeting next week. But the Silicon Valley Bank meltdown has pushed rates down, giving buyers deterred by affordability pressures a lucky moment.
On St. Patrick’s Day specifically, rates have sunk below 6%.
Buyers who snap up a home while rates recede could join in the Irish’s good homebuying fortune. Americans of Irish descent have a homeownership rate of 70.46%, 6.34 percentage points higher than the average overall homeownership rate, according to LendingTree.
They’re also less likely to be housing cost burdened, with more than 75% spending less than 30% of their monthly income on their mortgage.
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