Editor’s Note: The Mortgage Mix is RISMedia’s weekly highlight reel of need-to-know mortgage-industry happenings. Watch for it each Friday afternoon.
- As of July 11, 2024, the average 30-year mortgage rate is 6.89% (down from 6.95% the previous week). The 15-year rate is 6.17% (down from 6.25%).
- For mortgage rates to come down, interest rates will have to drop first. On Tuesday, July 9, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs that while inflation is moving in the right direction, he and his fellow board members will not commit to lowering interest rates at this time.
- For the last 90 days, mortgage rates have consistently gone up and down, bouncing between slightly above and slightly below 7%. It remains to be seen if rates will remain below 7% this time, although economists are saying that a slow decline in mortgage rates can be expected throughout the rest of the year.
- Mortgage applications continued a two-week decline the week of July 5, 2024. However, the week’s decline was only 0.2%, compared to the 2.6% decline in the last week of June.
- Realtor.com® Senior Economist Ralph McLaughlin said that the latest jobs and CPI reports reflect slowing inflation, which means rate cuts should be due soon. Dr. Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist of BrightMLS, told RISMedia however that the Fed will be extra reluctant to lower rates over the next few months as it could impact the presidential election.
- The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is making changes to its 203(k) loan program (a government-backed mortgage), offering more generous benefits to boost the program’s use and, hopefully, housing supply with it.
