Things are looking up for the prospect of taking out a mortgage—after all, when you’re at the bottom, there aren’t many other directions to look.

Indeꦍxes measuring the volume of mortgages for purchases and refinanciꦑng both perked up last week after mortgage rates dropped, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday.

The refinancing index rose 19%, the second week of double-digit gains, to its highest since July, while the purchase index rose 4% to its highest since August. The resurgence was spurred by a drop in the average rate offered for a 30-year mortgage, which fell to 7.07% from 7.17%, the lowest since July.

“Borrowers who had seen rates near 8 percent earlier this fall are now seeing some lenders quote rates below 7 percent,” Mike Fratantoni, chief economist at the association, said in a press release.

The uptick in activity suggested there are a good deal of would-be borrowers waiting for rates to drop before taking out a home loan. Homebuyers have been discourag🥃ed by high mortgage rates, wꦡhich hit a 23-year peak in late October, record-high home prices, and a lack of inventory. In a November survey by mortgage giant Fannie Mae, only 14% of consumers said it was a good time to buy a home, the lowest in a monthly survey that began in 2010.

High mortgage rates have also made refinancing unappealing, especially for borrowers who 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:locked in record-low mortgageꩲ rates during the pandemic.

The tide is turning because falling inflation this autumn has raised the prospect that the Federal Reserve will reverse its campaign of anti-inflation rate hikes, and begin to cut its key interest rate as soon as this spring, putting downward pressure on mortgage rates.

Fed officials are set to 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:announce a policy rate decision W🥃ednesday, and could shed light on the possibility of rate cut✅s next year.