COLUMBUS, Ohio — Last week, mortgage rates dropped tremendously, making this the biggest one-week drop in mortgage rates in over a year, according to CNBC. 

Mortgage rates decreased from 7.86% to 7.61% just last week. Although most would think this might incentivize potential buyers to make the investment, a local realtor said otherwise because of the history of home financing in Ohio. 

“The mortgage rate has kind of dampened buyers motivation and even incentive to get into the marketplace for housing. They look at what their mortgage rates are that affects their mortgage payment compared to their rental payment or their existing mortgage payment and they weigh out the pros and cons of rather or not they should jump in the marketplace,” said Rich Realty & Co. real estate agent CJ Churchill.

He also said this is normal and historically the mortgage rates fluctuate. 

“A lot of people question rather or not rates will go back down.  Historically it has shown that they do go back down. So trying to re-emphasize all of the positive things compared to the negative things that you hear out here,” said Churchill.

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index, the total mortgage application volume rose 2.5% last week during the mortgage rate decrease.  Many may wonder why the biggest one-week drop in mortgage rates is happening right now. Professionals say it’s simply because of the economy. 

“From a realtor’s perspective, right now, buyers are — and just people in the economy — are feeling the pinch. So the Fed kind of wants to relieve some of that out of the fourth quarter. Some will say or speculate in 2024 we’ll see a lot more financial relief for Americans. So I think that is trying to trend in that direction,” said Churchill.

While the number of mortgage applications rose 3%, that's still 20% lower than the same week last year.