The reported U.S. average mortgage rates for a 30-year loan and a 15-year loan dropped this week and are still near historic lows. Freddie Mac, a mortgage-finance company, says the country's 30-year fixed mortgage rate went down from 3.67 percent last week to 3.65 percent this week, reports Chicago Tribune.
The company also revealed that the 15-year fixed mortgage rate, which is a popular choice for owners who want to refinance their homes, also dropped from 2.94 to 2.92, week-over-week, adds the site. The column notes that last year, the average rate for a the longer term of 30 years was 4.33 percent, whereas the average rate for the shorter term of 15 years was 3.39 percent.
The historic low for the 30-year-fixed rate was 3.31 percent in November 2012, while the record low for the 15-year fixed-rate was a 2.56 percent in May 2013.
With these current low rates, renters are encouraged to buy homes. House prices may have "steadily recovered" since the 2008 financial crisis, but the "monthly costs of ownership" is still less expensive than renting, basing on a RealtyTrac study released in April, as reported by Los Angeles Times. According to the study, the "monthly payments from owning a three-bedroom house are cheaper than renting a comparable property in 76 percent of U.S. counties."
"From a pure affordability standpoint, renters who have saved enough to make a 10 percent down payment are better off buying in the majority of markets across the country," said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac.
Just recently, the existing home sales in March rose by 6.1 percent and posted its highest annual sales rate of 5.19 million in 18 months, as reported by National Association of Realtors. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, states that this is a warm and bright welcome this spring season for the housing market.
"After a quiet start to the year, sales activity picked up greatly throughout the country in March. The combination of low interest rates and the ongoing stability in the job market is improving buyer confidence and finally releasing some of the sizable pent-up demand that accumulated in recent years."
In March, basing from Freddie Mac's survey, the average rate for a 30-year loan increased to 3.77 percent from 3.71 percent in February, yet it was still below 4.00 percent, notes NAR.
Thus, with the current lower national average mortage rates, hopefully, more renters may be encouraged to purchase their own homes. With that, sellers will be encouraged also to list their homes and builders to construct new home so that market will move to a healthier inventory of six months. NAR notes that the unsold inventory is at a 4.6-month supply.
