Mortgage rates fell in March as the Federal Reserve softened its interest rate hikes on March 22. The decision to implement a 25 basis point hike came after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank and the banking instability that followed.
The 30-year mortgage rate hit 6.42% this week; a quarter-point drop from two weeks ago. This decline has triggered an uptick in buyers, with the volume of mortgage purchase applications increasing on March 17 by 17% from the previous month.
“Housing activity really picked up in the last two weeks, and it’s likely because rates dipped for a few days,” Adriana Perezchica, the president of Via Real Estate Group observed. “We have all these pre-approvals lined up, we’re back to getting multiple offers, no concessions from sellers, and buyers back to bidding.”
Redfin data found that for the four-week period ending March 19, 46% of homes under contract got an accepted offer within two weeks; the highest rate since last June.
