US 30-year mortgage rate falls to 2.88%, hitting a record low for the 8th time this year

• The popular US 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to another record low of 2.88%, Freddie Mac said Thursday.
• It's the eighth time this year that the rate has slipped to a record low amid the coronavirus pandemic.
• "The resilience of the housing market continues as mortgage rates hit another all-time low, giving potential buyers more purchasing power and strengthening demand," said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac's chief economist, in a statement.
• Read more on Business Insider.

Mortgage rates have fallen again, hitting yet another record low amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The popular US 30-year fixed mortgage rate slipped to 2.88%, down from 2.99% a week earlier, Freddie Mac said Thursday. That's the lowest the rate has fallen in survey history, dating back to 1971.

It's also the eighth time this year that the mortgage rate has fallen to a record low.

"The resilience of the housing market continues as mortgage rates hit another all-time low, giving potential buyers more purchasing power and strengthening demand," Sam Khater, Freddie Mac's chief economist, said in a statement. "We expect rates to stay low and continue to propel the purchase market forward. However, the main barrier to rising demand remains the lack of inventory, especially for entry-level homes."

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The housing market has been one of the few areas to show continued strength in the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic recession. Where the labor market recovery has slowed and consumer sentiment is waning as new COVID-19 cases tick up, the housing market has had a strong rebound.

Low mortgage rates have helped to support the recovery. Mortgage rates have been weighed down by a number of factors amid the pandemic — 10-year US Treasury yields, which mortgage rates loosely follow, are near all-time lows as investors pile into the safe-haven asset.

At the same time, the Federal Reserve is holding its benchmark interest rate near zero, and buying mortgage bonds to support the US economy, adding support to low borrowing costs.