Mortgage rates continue its downward trend for third consecutive week

• Summer swoon in mortgage rates continues as 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.88% for the week ending July 15, down from 2.90% recorded in prior week and down from 2.98% averaged in same period a year ago, according to the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Survey.
• The rates followed after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's indications to lawmakers that the central bank wasn’t changing up its strategy anytime soon.
• Related Reads: Jerome Powell: Fed is 'accelerating' toward decision to create a digital dollar
• Fed Chair Jerome Powell Reiterates That Fed Will Continue Security Purchases by SA Contributor John M. Mason
• While testifying before the Senate, Powell again reiterated his stance that the current spate of inflation would be transitory, indicating that the Fed is set to maintain its current approach on monetary easing.
• "Since their peak at 3.18% in April, mortgage rates have declined by thirty basis points. While this decline is not large, it provides modest relief to borrowers who are purchasing in a market with strong home appreciation and scant inventory," chief economist Sam Khater commented.