By coinnews 
00:00 Brad Smith
Mortgage rates for the week ending May 8th are out. Yahoo Finance’s Claire Boston joins me now on set with the numbers. What have we got here?
00:08 Claire Boston
Hi, Brad. Mortgage rates for the 30-year are completely unchanged this week at 6.76%, that is the exact same as last week. 15-year mortgage rates have fallen just a titch, they are now at 5.89% versus 5.92% a week ago. So I think what we are seeing here this week is a reflection of the relative calm we’ve seen in the financial markets. Uh we were waiting to see what the Fed did yesterday. The Fed did nothing. This is uh largely expected. And um, you know, as a result, uh those bond yields that underpin mortgage rates didn’t really move. And you know, this calm can be really good for the market because it gives buyers and sellers just a little bit of confidence that they’re not missing any big drop coming down the pike and they can go ahead and, you know, list their home or go through with that purchase if that’s where they are in their home buying journey.
00:58 Brad Smith
Yeah, many of us are old enough to remember this time last year, and Freddie Mac’s chief economist points this out. This time last year, 30-year fixed rate mortgage was 30 basis points higher and purchase applications, they were declining. Today, rates are lower and have remained stable for weeks sparking continued increases from what they’re noting in purchase applications here. All these things considered, they’ve got some new research out as well from Point Finding that homeowners, especially baby boomers, feel more uncertain about their financial situation than just one year ago. So, walk us through some of those findings that you’re seeing.
01:31 Claire Boston
Yeah, so Point found that 74% of people that they surveyed said tariffs would somehow hurt their financial decision or situation in the next 12 months and 82% of people are worried about a recession. Uh they also specifically highlighted that boomers, uh, you know, people that are nearing retirement, are extra worried about their finances right now. You know, that makes sense. April was a very volatile month in the stock market. If you are really reliant on your investments, um, you know, for your future, it makes sense that you’re worried right now. Um and it kind of remains to be seen how this is going to impact the housing market. Um consumer confidence is down, but mortgage applications are up this week, so it seems like at least some people are looking at this moment and they’re thinking potentially now is a good time to get into that market if they can afford it.
02:23 Brad Smith
All right, just to recap the numbers here, 30-year fixed rate mortgage, 6.76%, and additionally the 15-year fixed rate mortgage coming in 5.89% on average. Claire Boston, thanks so much for breaking down the numbers.
02:39 Claire Boston
Thanks, Brad.