Having slipped back below 4 percent three weeks ago, the average rate for a benchmark 30-year mortgage inched down another 3 basis points over the past week to 3.90 percent, which is within 2 basis points of this year’s low (3.88 percent) but remains 45 basis points above the 3.45 percent average rate in place at the same time last year and 49 basis points above last year’s 3.41 percent low, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey data.
At the same time, the probability of the Fed instituting another rate hike by the end of the year has dropped to 44 percent according to an analysis of the futures market, and the odds of the Fed acting before March are below 50 percent.