Mortgage rates take a dip – but customers can’t get their hopes up

The average long-term mortgage rate has dipped by almost 0.5%, Freddie Mac reported on Thursday. Still, imminent rate hikes in the coming months may keep potential homebuyers from the market.Recent data Freddie Mac revealed that the average rate for a 30-year mortgage fell from 7.08% to 6.61% last week, while the rate for a 15-year mortgage fell from 6.38% to 5.98%.

Just last year, the average 30-year rate was 3.1%, and the average 15-year rate was 2.39%.

Last month marked the first time in two decades that the 30-year mortgage rate had topped 7%, adding hundreds of dollars to homeowners’ monthly mortgage payments. Two weeks later, the Federal Reserve announced a 0.75% increase to its short-term lending rate – the fourth rate hike of the year and three times the Fed’s usual margin.