“Mortgage rates fell sharply this week to their lowest level in months,” said Matthew Speakman, a Zillow economist. “Less than a year after initially announcing it, the organization that governs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said last week that they would remove a policy that places an additional 50 basis point fee on mortgages that are being refinanced,” he added. “The program was intended to protect mortgage lenders from pandemic-driven losses, but it ultimately made it more expensive for homeowners to refinance their home loan and artificially increased the average mortgage rate. Rates immediately fell sharply on the announcement, a move that was extended later in the week as mounting concerns about the delta variant of covid-19 and its potential impact on expected economic growth led many investors to sell off stocks and seek the safe haven of bonds.”

Source: Washington Post July 22, 2021 14:15 UTC