Freddie Mac says the average rate on a 30-year mortgage slipped to 6.78% this week, ending a six-week climb

Despite its recent upward move, the average rate on a 30-year mortgage is still down from 7.22 percent in May, its peak so far this year. In late September, the average rate got as low as 6.08 percent — its lowest level in two years.

Mortgage rates in the U.S. declined for the first time in seven weeks. The average for a 30-year, fixed loan was 6.78%, down from 6.79% last week, Freddie Mac said Thursday in a statement. That’s still down from a year ago when the rate averaged 7.4%.

Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages also slipped by .01 percent this week to 5.99 percent from 6 percent last week. Meanwhile, borrowing costs on 30-year and 15-year h

Mortgage rates leveled off this week after climbing for six consecutives weeks, stalling along with demand in the stagnant housing market amid an affordability crisis.

After climbing for the last six weeks, mortgage rates have leveled off. They didn’t go down this week but they didn’t go up either, and economists say that