XPost: alt.invest.real-estate, alt.home.repair, alt.politics.trump   
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   From: yourdime@outlook.com   
      
   The average rate on a 30-year mortgage in the U.S. eased for the fourth   
   week in a row, an encouraging sign for prospective home shoppers as the   
   spring homebuying season gets underway.   
      
   The average rate fell to 6.87% from 6.89% last week, mortgage buyer   
   Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, it averaged 6.77%.   
      
   Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners   
   seeking to refinance their home loan to a lower rate, rose this week. The   
   average rate increased to 6.09% from 6.05% last week. A year ago, it   
   averaged 6.12%, Freddie Mac said.   
      
   Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, including how the bond   
   market reacts to the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy decisions. The   
   average rate on a 30-year mortgage briefly fell to a 2-year low last   
   September, but has been mostly hovering around 7% this year. That’s more   
   than double the 2.65% record low the average rate hit a little over four   
   years ago.   
      
   Rising home prices and elevated mortgage rates, which can add hundreds of   
   dollars a month in costs for borrowers, have kept many prospective home   
   shoppers on the sidelines, especially first-time buyers who don’t have   
   equity from an existing home to put toward a new home purchase.   
      
   Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell last year to their lowest   
   level in nearly 30 years, extending a national home sales slump that began   
   in 2022 as mortgage rates began to climb from their pandemic-era lows.   
      
   https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/average-us-rate-30-year-   
   mortgage-eases-687-118789011   
      
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