Ticking down again, rate on 30-year loans at 2.94%

WASHINGTON — Mortgage rates declined this week, marking their fourth-consecutive week below 3% and further evidence of the strength in the economy’s recovery from the pandemic recession.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average for the benchmark 30-year home-loan rate eased to 2.94% from 2.96% last week. At this time last year, the long-term rate was 3.28%.

The rate for a 15-year loan, popular among those seeking to refinance, slipped to 2.26% from 2.30% last week.

Experts are expecting mortgage rates to increase modestly in the short term, while remaining at low levels in light of the Federal Reserve’s goal of keeping its key interest rate near zero until the economy recovers from the pandemic.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell recently made clear that the central bank isn’t even close to starting a pullback in its ultralow interest-rate policies. This despite the economy’s rapid strengthening, inflation showing signs of picking up and the country making progress toward defeating the viral pandemic.

The acceleration in prices, which has been building for months, has unsettled financial markets and raised concerns that it could weaken the economic recovery. The government reported this week that a worrisome bout of inflation struck in April, with consumer prices for goods and services surging 0.8% — the largest monthly jump in more than a decade — and the year-overyear increase reaching its fastest rate since 2008.