(Bloomberg) -- U.S. mortgage rates fell once again to the lowest on record. What’s also declining is the number of people who can benefit.
The average rate for a 30-year loan was 3.23%, down from 3.33% last week and the lowest in almost 50 years of data-keeping, Freddie Mac (OTC:FMCC) said in a statement Thursday. The previous record was 3.29%, reached in early March.
The pandemic-driven rush to the safety of Treasuries in the past two months has helped push down borrowing costs, making home purchases more affordable for buyers who can qualify for a loan. It’s a group that’s getting smaller as the economic standstill puts tens of millions of Americans out of work. Even those with the means to buy have held back while hunkered down in quarantine.
Contracts to purchase previously owned U.S. homes plunged in March by the most since 2010, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday.
Buying will bounce back as the economy slowly reopens, according to Lawrence Yun, the Realtors group’s chief economist. Still, he projects a 14% decline in home sales for the year.
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