WASHINGTON, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Mortgage rates dropped in the United States last week, hovering near a three-year low, the U.S. Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, commonly known as Freddie Mac, said on Thursday.
For the week ending July 25, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) in the United States dropped to 3.75 percent from the previous week's 3.81 percent, also significantly lower than the average 4.54 percent for the same period one year ago.
Besides, Freddie Mac noted that 15-year FRM this week decreased to 3.18 percent from the previous week's reading of 3.23 percent, far lower than 4.02 percent for the same period a year ago.
"Mortgage rates continued to hover near three-year lows and purchase application demand has responded, rising steadily over the last two months to the highest year-over-year change since the fall of 2017," said Sam Khater, chief economist of Freddie Mac.
"While the improvement has yet to impact home sales, there's a clear firming of purchase demand that should translate into higher home sales in the second half of this year," Khater added.
Freddie Mac is a corporation founded by U.S. Congress with an aim to promote the stability and affordability in the U.S. housing market by purchasing mortgages from banks and other loan makers. The corporation has been conducting weekly surveys on U.S. mortgage rate since April 1971.
