BRADENTON, Fla. — One of the biggest steps in a person's life is purchasing a home, but when mortgage rates are high, that can be quite difficult.

For the last seven weeks, those rates have dropped.

What You Need To Know

  • Mortgage rates have dropped seven weeks in a row

  • There are more homes on the market compared to last year

  • Rates are still higher than what they were a few years ago

For seven years, real estate agent Stephanie Seacat has shown off all sorts of homes to prospective buyers and said there are always changes in the industry.

“As those rates continue to go down, there’s going to be that frenzy again,” said Seacat. “Now is the time to buy and refinance down the road.”

According to Mortgage Buyer Freddie Mac, the average rate for a 30-year mortgage in January was just over 7%. This week, it is 6.63%.

Even with rates dropping, mortgage rates are still quite a bit higher than what they were just a few years ago.

There are other changes Seacat is noticing, such as fewer people at open houses.

Last year, she would expect 10-15 people to come out, now 5-10 would be a good day.

“I put another home on the market last week and we had about seven come through,” she said. “It also depends on price points of the home.”

According to Realtor.com, there are more houses available to choose from for buyers compared to last year.

Seacat said she’s seeing different types of buyers.

“What we’re seeing is there’s a lot of local movement that’s happening in the market meaning locals are starting to buy and homes are starting to go pending so that’s a new trend that started to happen this year,” she said.