Mortgage rates dipped in the latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey published by Freddie Mac (OTCQB: FMCC).
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.99% as of June 6, down from last week when it averaged 7.03%. A year ago at this time, it averaged 6.71%.
The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.29%, down from last week when it averaged 6.36%. A year ago at this time, it averaged 6.07%.
“Mortgage rates retreated this week given incoming data showing slower growth,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “Rates are just shy of 7%, and we expect them to modestly decline over the remainder of 2024. If a potential buyer is looking to buy a home this year, waiting for lower rates may result in small savings, but shopping around for the best rate remains tremendously beneficial.”
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There is NO one to whom I have spoken who feels that inflation is under control, despite the Feds numbers showing some inflation reduction, though not yet at 2% (the Fed target). Prices of gas, food, energy, insurances of various types, and housing are all still very high, and raising the interest rate only makes those costs more expensive for nearly everybody, especially those who have to spend on credit cards and cannot always payoff the balance each month and then suffer very high interest rate charges.
The only people (or business entities) winning with the Feds refusal to drop interest rates are those who are sitting on huge sums of ready cash, and I think that is no accident.
For those who own homes, the equity in their homes IS a major nest egg, and perhaps the only nest egg for that family. Yet, with rising mortgage rates, it has made it much more expensive for people to REFI or get a HELOC. Why is it that the Feds seem to target the middle class (who own homes with equity) and punish them with higher interest rates, which has ripple effects of making it harder for a buyer to buy a home and also makes it harder for a homeowner to sell and buy a new home because they also will be impacted by higher mortgage rates on a new home.
Our government could look to more egalitarian policies, but they refuse to consider those other options. I encourage people to look at how Israel reined in really high inflation without raising interest rates. Everyone had to make some sacrifices, such as limits on cost of goods and services and limits on pay for workers, but it worked brilliantly.