At the beginning of the year, mortgage rates fell to hang around 4.2% across the board, this decrease was still much higher than expectations, as it was the first time in several years that the rate started above 4%. From January to March, these rates rose steadily with March rates averaging around 4.25%. In our local area, most lenders were much higher with rates averaging around 4.35%. April and May were somewhat of a rollercoaster but did bring down the mortgage rates nationally with June dropping to yearly lows.
July has brought even lower rates, moving from an average of 4.06-4.12% to an average of 4% even. In large part, this is due to the higher demand for bonds. As for the coming week, activity is expected to increase, like it does most weeks.
“For the first time since the election, we’re in a rate environment where you wouldn’t be crazy not to lock at every little opportunity/improvement. Until/unless it’s broken, the highest rates of early-2017 mark the ceiling, and we’re now waiting to see how much lower we can go from here,” reports mortgagenewsdaily.com.
While federal has been trending lower, locally the trend has been slow to catch up to the national rates. Here’s a few local mortgage rates, according to bankrate.com, based on a 30-year fixed rate with a loan of 300,000:
| Bank | Rate |
| Regions Bank | 4.151 |
| Community First Bank and Trust | 4.153 |
| Wilson Bank and Trust | 4.271 |
| HSBC bank | 4.120 |
