Mortgage rates fall below 6.8% for the first time since May

Some good news on the mortgage rate front. Sort of.

Mortgage rates have dropped for the fourth consecutive week as geopolitical tensions were relaxed and the treasury yields have dropped.

The average fixed mortgage rate of 30 years was 6.77% to Wednesday, compared to 6.81% a week earlier, according to data from Freddie Mac. The average mortgage rate at 15 years was 5.89%, compared to 5.96% last week.

The yield of the treasury at 10 years old, that mortgage rates follow closely, have dropped all week while Iran and Israel have accepted a cease-fire and two officials of the Federal Reserve said they would support the reduction in interest rates in July.

“The borrowers should find comfort in the stability of mortgage rates, which only fluctuated in a narrow range of 15 basins since mid-April,” said Sam Khater, chief economist of Freddie Mac, in a statement.

Fed reductions do not directly affect mortgage rates, but they evolve in response to expectations concerning future interest rate decisions. During the testimony of the congress this week, the president of the Fed, Jerome Powell, reiterated that the Fed was not in a hurry to reduce the rates.

Find out more: How the Fed rate decision affects mortgage rates

Merchants see 26% of a drop in July, according to CME Fedwatch, although the majority see the lower rates in September.

Although mortgage rates have derived modestly lower in recent weeks, they have been stuck in a narrow strip in the high fork of 6%.

High rates associated with high prices have maintained the house to buy slow so far this year. The activity of the housing contract has improved slightly in May, increasing 1.8% compared to April and 1.1% compared to last year, according to data from the National Association of Realtors published Thursday. But new house sales landed 14% last month for the greatest drop in three years.

Mortgage requests for a new house have been little changed until Friday compared to a week earlier, according to the Deathgage Bankers Association. Refinancing applications, on the other hand, increased by 3% of week per week.