Mortgage rates drop for third week in a row, but home buyers remain reluctant

There’s good and bad news for mortgage rates this week. The good news is rates have continued their slow downward trend, averaging 6.87% on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages, Freddie Mac reported.

Although this is promising, lowering interest rates is far from the norm. Last week, 30-year mortgages had average rates of 6.95%. However, compared to a year ago when rates averaged 6.67%, this week and last week’s rates are still relatively high. Still, any improvement is better than nothing.

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