US Mortgage Rates Fall Below 5% for the First Time in 4 Months... "Concerns Over Economic Downturn"

Jerome Powell, Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] U.S. mortgage rates have fallen below 5% for the first time in four months.

On the 4th (local time), according to foreign media including The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the U.S. government-sponsored mortgage company Freddie Mac announced that the 30-year fixed mortgage rate dropped to 4.99% this week, the lowest since April. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 5.3% last week and 2.77% during the same period last year.

The 30-year fixed mortgage rate surged to 5.81% in June, marking the highest level in 13 years. The 15-year fixed mortgage rate also fell from 4.58% last week to 4.26% this week. The 5-year fixed mortgage rate dropped by 0.04 percentage points from last week to 4.25%.

Mortgage rates tend to fluctuate depending on expectations about the economic situation. Therefore, the decline in mortgage rates is interpreted as a result of recent concerns about the U.S. economic downturn lowering expectations for rate hikes.

Sam Carter, Chief Economist at Freddie Mac, forecasted that the volatility of mortgage rates could be significant due to high uncertainty surrounding inflation and other factors.

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