The 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.98% this week, according to Freddie Mac – but any uptick in buyer demand will meet a shrinking inventory of for-sale homes.

MCLEAN, Va. – The average 30-year mortgage rate dropped below 3% this week for the first time in at least 50 years. It averaged 2.98% this week, according to Freddie Mac, and is the lowest recorded since Freddie Mac started tracking average mortgage rates in 1971.

However any uptick in buyer demand over all-time-low mortgage rates will meet a shrinking inventory of for-sale homes.

Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, says the drop below 3% “has led to increased homebuyer demand,” and that the “low rates have been capitalized into asset prices in support of the financial markets.”

But Khater also says the “countervailing force for the economy has been the rise in new virus cases which has caused the economic recovery to stagnate, and this economic pause puts many temporary layoffs at risk of ossifying into permanent job losses.”

Mortgage rate overview for the week ending July 16

• The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.98% with an average 0.7 point for the week, down from last week’s 3.03%. A year ago at this time, it averaged 3.81%.

• The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.48% with an average 0.7 point, down from last week’s 2.51%. A year ago, it was 3.23%.

• The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.06% with an average 0.3 point, up slightly from last week’s 3.02%. A year ago, it averaged 3.48%.

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