the average interest rate on a popular type of home loan fell this week for the first time since august the dip is unlikely to mean much for potential home buyers the average rate on a 30year fixed loan was 695 as of thursday according to freddie mac ’s primary mortgage market survey the drop comes one week after the weekly measure rose above 7 for the first time in 20 years despite the weekoverweek drop rates remain high compared with last year at this week’s average rate the buyer of a 400000 would pay 750 more a month compared with the final week of 2021 “mortgage rates continue to hover around seven percent as the dynamics of a oncehot housing market have faded considerably” sam khater freddie mac’s chief economist said in a statement “unsure buyers navigating an unpredictable landscape keeps demand declining while other potential buyers remain sidelined from an affordability standpoint” higher rates are among the factors impacting firsttime buyers the national association of realtors reported separately on thursday at 26 the share of firsttime buyers who purchased a home between july 2021 and june 2022 was the smallest since the trade group began tracking the data the association said the typical age of a firsttime buyer also increased to 36 from 33 the year prior the trade group said “it’s not surprising that the share of firsttime buyers shrank to the lowest level ever recorded given the housing market’s combination of historically low inventory persistently high home prices and rapidly escalating interest rates” jessica lautz the national association of realtors’ vice president of demographics and behavioral insights said in a statement the federal reserve’s fight against inflation will continue to weigh on housing freddie mac’s khater said in a statement “yesterday’s interest interestrate hike by the federal reserve will certainly inject additional lead into the heels of the housing market” khater said the 10year treasury yield with which mortgage rates often move rose following the federal reserve’s rate increase on wednesday