Mortgage rates fall again as economy cools further

Rates for home loans fell for the sixth straight week as concerns about the economy buffeted financial markets.

In the week ending March 6, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.63%, Freddie Mac announced Thursday. That’s down from 6.76% last week, and marked the biggest weekly decline since mid-September.  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.

Most mortgage market observers began the year believing rates were more likely to rise than fall, but that hasn’t panned out. Rates ticked up slightly in early January but have fallen steadily since then in tandem with warning signs about the economy.

More: Why is housing so expensive? There simply aren’t enough homes.

Earlier this week, U.S. stocks closed at the lowest level since the November election as tariffs levied by the White House escalated into an all-out trade war. Hiring slowed sharply in February, payroll provider ADP said Wednesday, and job cuts tallied by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas soared past analyst expectations.

Meanwhile, reports from various retailers confirm that consumers are pulling back.

Steve Reese, a real estate agent in Shawnee, Oklahoma, says the activity he’s accustomed to seeing in his market in early spring hasn’t materialized. “Activity right now picking up but not at a rate that I would have normally seen,” he said. “What I’m hearing now is that people are really more guarded because of what they don’t know is coming down the pike economically.”

As concerns about the economy mount, one silver lining is lower interest rates.

The share of mortgage applications for refinancing, not purchasing, was 44% in the most recent week, the highest since mid-December, said Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater in a statement Thursday.

Reese, who calls his company Sold on Shawnee, advises his clients to work with local, community-based lenders who can help keep track of rates and other factors that might help a homeowner decide when to refinance.

For those in the market to buy, decisions might be a little less straightforward, he thinks. “A buyer dipping their toe in the water right now is more concerned than normal just because there seems to be a lot of moving parts that we don’t have a lot of good messaging on,” he said. “You know, when things are chaotic in the White House, it tends to not make us feel very secure.”

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mortgage rates fall for the sixth-straight week as economy slows