30-Year Fixed Mortgage Rate Drops for 3rd Consecutive Week: Freddie Mac

Refinancing borrowers are entering the market eagerly as rates go down.

An apartment unit resides next to towering buildings in Los Angeles on Jan. 11, 2024. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage continued its downward trend, registering a weekly average of 6.62 percent as of April 10.

According to Freddie Mac’s mortgage tracker, the rate has remained under 7 percent for the 12th consecutive week, and has shown a declining trend for the past three weeks. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage is at 5.82 percent, staying the same as last week.

“As purchase applications continue to climb, the spring homebuying season is shaping up to look more favorable than last year,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist.

Mortgage applications have gone up recently, indicating an increase in home buying demand, according to latest numbers from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

“Mortgage applications increased by 20 percent to its highest level since September 2024, driven by purchase and refinance applications picking up in a volatile week where economic uncertainty caused rates to drop across the board,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist.

Kan said homebuyers and refinance borrowers were keen to take advantage of the lower rates, driving the purchase index 24 percent higher than a year ago to the strongest pace since January 2024.

The Refinance Index increased 35 percent from the previous week and was 93 percent higher than the same week one year ago, said the statement.

Refinancing is typically done by homeowners to take advantage of new mortgage rates. After clearing off the old mortgage, the homeowner may switch between a fixed or variable mortgage under the new terms, depending on market conditions.

Some homeowners also take out excess cash, the difference between the old and new loan amounts, for funding home improvement projects and other purposes.

Even though interest rates have not come down much, refinancing applications have hit their highest level in six months, according to the MBA report, with the average refinance loan size jumping to one of its highest levels ever at $399,600.

Americans Buying Homes

Home buying has been picking up pace in the United States since the start of April.

Besides mortgage purchase applications going up, new listings are rising, according to new data from real estate brokerage Redfin.

New listings are up 10.3 percent yearly, one of 2025’s biggest increases as people have begun listing properties in hopes of bagging a sale before a potential economic downturn.

“Tariffs are coming up for the first time. I hosted an open house over the weekend, and some of the younger buyers were concerned about how they’re going to impact the housing market,” said Desiree Bourgeois, a Redfin Premier agent in Detroit.

“They’re hearing the words ‘tariffs’ and ‘recession,’ and it’s making them nervous that if they buy now, the value of their home will decline, and they don’t know whether mortgage rates will go up or down. There’s a lot of uncertainty out there, with buyers trying to understand how their purchase would fit into their personal finances and the broader economic puzzle.”

The median home sale price is $386,500, as of April 6, said the brokerage, with the asking price at $426,910 and a monthly mortgage rate at $2,813.

There were almost a million active market listings with 100,661 new listings. Redfin reports four months of supply at the current selling pace, with the property staying in the market for an average of 43 days.

According to a March 10 report from real estate listing website Realtor, America’s housing supply gap stood at 3.8 million units last year, the third biggest annual figure since 2012.

During a recent testimony before Congress, Buddy Hughes, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders, called for eliminating excessive regulations to ease the housing affordability crisis facing the United States.