U.S. mortgage rates go down again; remain below 3% benchmark

For the fourth week in a row, mortgage rates remained below 3%, while continuing towards a fifth weekly decline for the week ending 13th May 2021. On Thursday, Freddie Mac reported that the average benchmark for the 30-year home-loan rate slipped to 2.94% from 2.96% in the previous week. The rates were 3.28%, at the same time a year ago. Rate for the 15-year loan went down by 4 basis points from the previous week, touching 2.26%. The low mortgage rates, while making home loans cheaper, have given Americans more buying power, even as bidding wars further boost prices. The latest stats indicate that homeowners have the opportunity to lower their monthly mortgage payments, through refinancing, overall propelling home sales and the refinance market. This is an essential boon for the housing sector on a whole. However, this trend may only be temporary, as consumer inflation has gathered pace, which may further push these mortgage rates higher. Inflationary pressures remained on the rise, following poor nonfarm payroll figures for April 2021. U.S. continues to remain about 8.2 million jobs short of the where it stood before the pandemic hit last year, raising concerns about how quickly the U.S. economy can return to normal.