30-year mortgage rate falls to 4.32%
CHICAGO — Mortgage rates dropped to a record low, the 11th straight week of matching or setting a new low, reducing borrowing costs for home buyers as demand slumps.
The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 4.32 percent in the week that ended yesterday from 4.36 percent, Freddie Mac said. That was the lowest since the company began compiling the data in 1971. The average 15-year rate was 3.83 percent, also a record.
Low home-loan rates have yet to boost home sales, depressed by unemployment and the end of a home buyer tax credit. Sales of new and previously owned homes fell to the lowest level on record in July, according to the Commerce Department and National Association of Realtors.
The number of contracts to buy previously owned houses unexpectedly rose in July, a sign the market may be starting to stabilize. The index of pending home resales rose 5.2 percent after a revised 2.8 percent drop the prior month, the National Association of Realtors said.
The decline in rates has spurred a surge of refinancing as Americans seek to reduce payments. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index of refinancing rose 2.8 percent in the week ended Aug. 27 to the highest level since May 2009.
