Rates for home loans eased, but as housing remains hard to afford, homebuyers have to be as resourceful as possible.
In the week ending June 5, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.85%, Freddie Mac announced, down from 6.89% last week, marking the first decline in five weeks.
Those figures don’t include fees or points, and rates in some parts of the country may be higher or lower than the national average.
Mortgage rates have made little meaningful moves at all so far this year: The 30-year-fixed started January at 6.91% and has drifted up and down, a few basis points at a time, since then.
Borrowing costs are only part of the equation for would-be buyers, however. “The affordability picture for prospective homebuyers has not improved because home prices are still rising,” said Bright MLS chief economist Lisa Sturtevant in a statement out June 4.
