U.S. 30-year fixed-rate mortgage plunges to lowest since May 2023, Freddie Mac says

By Makailah Gause

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The average rate on the popular U.S. 30-year mortgage plunged to its lowest level since May 2023 this week, following days of market turbulence resulting from last week's softer-than-expected employment report.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.47% during the week ending Aug. 8, down from 6.73% in the prior week, mortgage finance agency Freddie Mac said on Thursday.

It averaged 6.96% during the same period a year ago.

"The decline in mortgage rates does increase prospective homebuyers’ purchasing power and should begin to pique their interest in making a move," Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater said in a statement.

The drop comes on the heels of a week of financial market volatility that drove yields on the Treasury securities that are used as a benchmark for mortgage rates sharply lower and after the Federal Reserve indicated it could start cutting interest rates at its next meeting in September.

"This drop in rates is already providing some existing homeowners the opportunity to refinance, with the refinance share of market mortgage applications reaching nearly 42%, the highest since March 2022,” said Khater.

(Reporting By Makailah Gause; editing by Dan Burns and Andrea Ricci)