Mortgage Rates Fall to 5-Month Low (2024)

FAQs

Will mortgage rates ever drop below 5 again? ›

Mortgage rates are expected to continue trending down through 2024 and into 2025, and we could see rates drop further into the 5% range.

The same day the Fed cut the federal funds rate, Fannie Mae released its September housing forecast. The organization now predicts mortgage rates will be at 6.2% by the end of 2024 and 5.7% by Q4 2025.

The short answer is: It's highly unlikely we'll see mortgage rates drop back to 3% anytime soon. However, recent inflation numbers point to cooling of the pace of inflation. This will allow the FED to start lowing the FED funds rates soon, most experts predict September will be the first cut.

Mortgage rates fell on Thursday to their lowest level since April 2023 — 6.2 percent for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, down from 6.35 percent a week before, according to Freddie Mac.

The 30-year fixed mortgage rate is expected to fall to the low-6% range through the end of 2024, potentially dipping into high-5% territory in 2025. Here's where mortgage interest rates are headed for the next 18 months and how that will impact the housing market as a whole.

The Mortgage Bankers Association expects mortgage rates to level off at about 6.4% this year, 5.9% in 2025 and 5.5% by the end of 2026, compared to 3.70% at the end of 2019.

Yes. This is the best time to buy a house in California. With the current trend in the CA housing market, you'll find better deals on your dream home during Q2 2024. As per Fannie Mae, mortgage rates may drop more in Q2 of 2024 due to economic changes, inflation, and central bank policy adjustments.

Fannie Mae's August 2024 forecast (its latest at the time of writing) predicts that 2025 rates will start at 6.2% and trickle downwards by 0.1% each quarter, landing somewhere near 5.9%.

What will interest rates be in 2026? ›

CPI inflation to fall further than most expect in 2025 and prompt BoE to cut interest rates to 3.00% by early 2026 | Capital Economics.

The mortgage rate forecast for the remainder of 2024 is that mortgage rates are expected to nudge down further following the Bank of England's decision to cut the base rate on the 1st August, for the first time since March 2020.

So if you're on the fence about buying or refinancing a home this winter, know that January and February bring some of the lowest mortgage rates of the year.

The lowest average mortgage rates on record came about when the Federal Reserve lowered the federal funds rate in 2020 and 2021 in response to the pandemic. As a result, the weekly average 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage fell to 2.65%, while the average 15-year, fixed-rate mortgage sunk to 2.10%.

“Lower mortgage rates make it more affordable for buyers to purchase a home,” Sturtevant says. “But lower rates also make it easier for existing homeowners to sell. Nationwide, there is an average 3 percentage point gap between rates on new and existing mortgages.

The general consensus is that rates will continue to creep downwards in 2025 until settling in the high-5% range by December.

Projected Interest Rates In The Next Five Years

ING's interest rate predictions indicate 2024 rates starting at 4%, with subsequent cuts to 3.75% in the second quarter. Then, 3.5% in the third, and 3.25% in the final quarter of 2024. In 2025, ING predicts a further decline to 3%.