The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate dropped to 6.47% this week, the lowest level since May 2023. 

Rates dipped more than a quarter-point since last week’s average of 6.73%. The average rate peaked at 7.79% in late October and has been mostly in decline ever since. 

“Mortgage rates plunged this week to their lowest level in over a year following the likely overreaction to a less than favorable employment report and financial market turbulence for an economy that remains on solid footing,” Freddie Mac wrote on its website. 

“The decline in mortgage rates does increase prospective homebuyers’ purchasing power and should begin to pique their interest in making a move. Additionally, this drop in rates is already providing some existing homeowners the opportunity to refinance, with the refinance share of market mortgage applications reaching nearly 42%, the highest since March 2022.”

The average 15-year fixed-rate mortgage was 5.63%, also the lowest in more than a year.