Mortgage rates stall as home sales remain 'lackluster'

September 05, 2024 at 12:09 PM EDT

The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage remained unchanged at 6.35% this week, failing to spur on purchase demand as many would-be buyers hold out.

Long-term mortgage rates remained unmoved this week while shorter notes fell some, but did little to spur on demand.

Freddie Mac's latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey, released Thursday, showed that the average rate on the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage held steady at 6.35%. The average rate on a 30-year loan was 7.12% a year ago.

"Mortgage rates remained flat this week as markets await the release of the highly anticipated August jobs report," said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. "Even though rates have come down over the summer, home sales have been lackluster."

Khater noted there has been an uptick in activity for refinancing.

Many would-be buyers and sellers are holding out to see if rates fall further. Currently, about 80% of mortgage holders have a rate below 5%, according to a Zillow survey.

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The average rate on the 15-year fixed mortgage declined to 5.47% from 5.51% last week. One year ago, the rate on the 15-year fixed note averaged 6.52%.