Here are today’s best mortgage and refinance rates for July 31, 2020


Record low interest rates continued to attract home buyers to the property market as low inventory pushed home prices up in July.



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Mortgage-rate-July-31-2020

The median home price increased 8.5% year-over-year, reaching a record high of $ 349,000, according to the latest Realtor.com data. The increase comes amid a pandemic that virtually closed the country and led to the largest economic contraction in the history of the United States.

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“When the pandemic helped drive the US economy into recession, most homeowners and home buyers prepared for the fall in home prices,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com. “That is what happened in the last recession. But that is not what we are seeing in the current market. “

Hale went on to point out that there was already a housing shortage to start the year, with about a third fewer properties available on the market than last year. At the same time, homeowners who may have been thinking of selling put those plans on hold as COVID-19 blockades and fears of the virus spreading took over. Add record low mortgage rates to the mix and we have the perfect storm for home prices to rise.

“We have this pretty strong market imbalance in favor of sellers right now,” said Hale. “However, many homeowners believe that now is not yet a good time to sell.”

Week under review

There was both good and bad news for the housing market this week as the economy continues to grapple with an increase in COVID-19 infections.

On the downside, the total number of mortgage loans declined slightly: both purchase and refinance requests decreased approximately 1% from the prior week. Unemployment claims rose slightly to 1.43 million new claims, indicating that the economic recovery that started in June may be slowing down. Finally, the Office of Economic Analysis announced that US gross domestic product fell a record annual rate of 32% in the second quarter.

On the positive side, the market learned that the number of pending home sales increased 16.6% in June, 6.3% more than in June 2019. The number of loans in patience decreased for the sixth consecutive week . Meanwhile, mortgage rates fell back below 3% just for the second time in history as the property market continued to post gains.

What are people paying for mortgages right now?

Borrowers with 700 credit scores were charged an average of 3,548% to guarantee a 30-year fixed-rate purchase mortgage on Thursday, according to Money’s survey of more than 8,000 mortgage lenders across the country. The average rate for a 30-year refinance was 4,363%.

What are the rates announced today?

Of course, mortgage rates vary widely by location and personal factors such as location, the size of your down payment, and your credit score. Here are the mortgage rates announced today by some of the largest lenders in the mortgage industry. (All rates are APR. The rates you see may be different.)

JPMorgan Chase

Based in New York, JP Morgan Chase has almost 5,000 branches in the United States.

Mortgage rates announced for July 31:

30 year fixed: 2.941%

15 years fixed: 2,520%

5-year ARM: 2,660%

(Rates based on New York City ZIP code 10006).

Wells Fargo

Based in San Francisco, Wells Fargo has more than 7,000 locations.

Mortgage rates announced for July 31:

30 year fixed: 3.103%

15 year fixed: 2,830%

5-YEAR ARM: 2,828%

Speed ​​up

Quicken, a Detroit-based non-bank lender, is the nation’s largest mortgage lender by dollar origination volume.

Mortgage rates announced for July 31:

30 year fixed: 3.119%

15 year fixed: 2,815%

(Quicken does not announce a five-year adjustable rate.)

Bottom line:

Everything you need to know about mortgage rates in 2020

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