Before going up slightly last month, mortgage rights have dropped back down. These historically low rates have created extremely high demand for houses that has created a frenzied housing market it St. Louis.
U.S. mortgage rates have dropped back down this week after rising at the end of May. For the week ending June 10 the average rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage was 2.96%. The average for the week ending June 3 was just barely below 3%, at 2.99%. This is up from the 2.65% recorded in March, the lowest rate ever reported since 1971 when recording began.
Despite rising from this historic low, mortgages are still significantly more affordable than they were prior to the pandemic. The annual average in 2019 was 3.94%. This dropped significantly in 2020 to 3.11%. For the first five months of 2021, the average monthly rate has been 2.93%
Low interest rates have been set in order to help economic recovery from the COVID pandemic and lockdowns. These historically low mortgage rates over the last year have been a major contributing factor to the super-hot housing market.
In St. Louis, the market is indeed red hot. According to data from the site Zillow, homes are currently goin under contract an average of five days after listing. Once they do sell, the price is an average of 30% above asking. This has driven the typical price of a home in St. Louis up 12% over the last year.