Mortgage rates up, still expected to decrease modestly in H2

Mortgage rates rose this week, but are still expected to decrease modestly in H2, according to the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Survey.

30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.95% as of July 3, up from 6.86% last week and 6.81% in the year-ago week.

15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.25%, compared to 6.16% in the previous week and 6.24% a year ago.

“Both new home and pending home sales are down, causing active listings to rise,” said Freddie Mac’s chief economist, Sam Khater.

“We are still expecting rates to moderately decrease in the second half of the year and given additional inventory, price growth should temper, boding well for interested homebuyers,” added Khater.