The average 30-year fixed rate mortgage dropped to 3.85% this week, according to Bankrate.com. A decrease of 8 basis points since this time last week, some lenders have encouraged borrowers to lock in their rates.
The average 15-year fixed rate home loan dropped 6 basis to 3.07%, and the 5/1 Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) also fell 6 basis points to 3.16%.
While interest rates spiked immediately following the election, they have trended lower and have returned to pre-election levels. Economists note that this is largely due to general unpredictability of the presidency and global economic tumult. Interest rates have been widely expected to rise in 2017, but they’ve been notoriously hard to predict; many economists and loan experts have retracted their original belief that rates would hit 5% before the end of the year.