After a slight uptick last week, mortgage rates fell back to what’s become a more regular pattern this summer of hovering near three-year lows. Home buyers are responding to the lower rates, and mortgage applications for home purchases have continued to rise steadily the last two months to the highest year-over-year change since the fall of 2017, says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.

“While the improvement has yet to impact home sales, there’s a clear firming of purchase demand that should translate into higher home sales in the second half of this year,” Khater says.

Freddie Mac reported the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending July 25:

• 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.75%, with an average 0.5 point, falling from last week’s 3.81% average. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 4.54%.
• 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.18%, with an average 0.5 point, falling from last week’s 3.23% average. A year ago, 15-year rates averaged 4.02%.
• 5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 3.47%, with an average 0.4 point, falling from last week’s 3.48% average. A year ago, 5-year ARMs averaged 3.87%.