Number of the Day Shows Mortgage Rates Dip to New Low

That’s the average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage this week—another record low.

The average from Freddie Mac’s weekly survey has now dropped to a new low 10 times this year, data released Thursday showed. Rates, which have stayed below 5% for more than a decade, started 2020 at 3.72%, and hadn’t gone this low in the 49 years Freddie Mac has been doing the survey.

The ultra-low rates are fueling a boom in home sales, which have more than rebounded from a pandemic-triggered crash earlier this year. In August, sales of existing homes were 10.5% higher than a year earlier, and the median price reached a record $310,600, according to the National Association of Realtors.