Mortgage rates have slipped to their best spring levels in three years, and buyers are finally responding. Freddie Mac said the average 30-year mortgage fell to 6.23 percent through Wednesday, down from 6.3 percent a week earlier, while the Mortgage Bankers Association reported purchase applications jumped 10 percent and refinance demand rose 6 percent.
The move has been driven less by housing fundamentals than by financial markets, which reacted to a ceasefire in the Middle East, lower oil prices and shifting expectations around U.S.-Iran talks. Mortgage News Daily said rates were unchanged for most lenders on Thursday at 6.29 percent to 6.33 percent, after a brief mid-day wobble tied to fresh war headlines and then a partial retracement.
That leaves the spring market in a fragile but better spot than it was a few weeks ago. Homebuilders and sellers are getting a modest lift from a buyer pool that had been sidelined by rates above 6.4 percent, but the gains still hinge on bond markets staying calm and on geopolitics not pushing borrowing costs back up.
