Mortgage rates drop below 6% for the first time since 2022

CAPE CORAL, Fla. — The average U.S. mortgage rate dropped below 6% last week, reaching its lowest point since 2022 and giving prospective homebuyers more purchasing power heading into the spring buying season.

The 5.98% rate is nearly a full percentage point lower than it was a year ago.

Fox 4 spoke with Brady Webb, CEO of American Mortgage Solutions in Cape Coral, who said the timing is favorable for buyers — not just because of the rate itself, but because of how sellers are responding to the market.

"If you get in now, these sellers that have been sitting on their houses three, four, six months, some of them maybe even a year, are willing to pay closing costs they're willing to do whatever they need to to get their house sold. As the competition increases, they're going to be less likely to do that, because there's going to be more people wanting to buy their house."

Webb said that while rates are not as low as they were during the COVID-19 pandemic, they are currently at or below historical averages.

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