Continued COVID Concerns Sink Rates Below 3% – NMP
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Continued COVID Concerns Sink Rates Below 3%

Jun 15, 2020
A woman on a laptop and analysis charts.
A headshot of Navi Persaud
Director of Events

With the COVID-19 pandemic causing the Federal Reserve to keep its benchmark rate low, there's no surprise that the average lender is able to offer 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rates under 3%. This was revealed in a Mortgage News Daily survey, as reported by Yahoo Finance. The story stated that a potential second wave of COVID-19 is causing concern in financial markets, which has helped to keep rates at their all-time lows.
 
"Mortgage rates plunged in the midst of Thursday's stock market sell-off. As investors moved out of stocks and into bonds as a safer place for their money, Treasury bond interest fell—and mortgage rates followed," according to the report. "The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage sank to 2.94% on Thursday, from 3.03% a day earlier, according to Mortgage News Daily's survey of lenders."
 
As 1.5 million Americans signed up for unemployment and the Fed issued a less than ideal economic forecast, stocks had their worst day in months, according to the report. The economy was crawling back however, the increase in COVID-19 across some states put the sustainability and economic outlook in jeopardy.
 
"With no end in sight for this Fed policy, it’s likely that mortgage rates are poised to remain low for a while," said Matthew Speakman, an economist with Zillow, according to the report.
 
"Markets will continue to take major cues from COVID-19 numbers and the resulting impact on the economy. The better it goes, the more upward pressure we might see on rates. The worse it goes, the greater the possibility of a return to all-time lows," added Matthew Graham, chief operating officer of MND.
 
Click here to read more about the record low rates being offered now.
 
About the author
A headshot of Navi Persaud
Director of Events
Navi Persaud is Director of Events at NMP.
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Jun 15, 2020
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