For the second month in a row, the average 30-year fixed rate mortgage has decreased, according to State Treasurer Todd Russ.
Russ’ monthly report says the rate dropped from June to July by 1.01%, down to 6.85%.
“Despite rates elevated and fluctuating within a relatively narrow range, many housing market experts expect rates to recede slightly in the coming months, assuming the Fed implements cuts to its benchmark interest rate,” the report said.
When the average mortgage rate first lowered in June, it broke a six-month streak of average rate increases. But while mortgage rates have begun to drop, consumer prices increased in July.
The Consumer Price Index, a metric gauging the average cost of consumer goods and services, rose by 0.2% in July after falling 0.1% in June.
The decrease in June was the first month-over-month fall since Dec. 2022, providing some hope that inflation would slow.
The economic report attributed 90% of the increase in the consumer price index to the price of shelter increasing.
The index for gasoline went unchanged in July; the national average cost at the pump rose by two cents from $3.58 to $3.60 per gallon.
The state’s Gross Production Tax, the severance tax imposed on extraction of oil and natural gas, is the state’s third-largest source of revenue, but revenues from the tax are volatile, beholden to price fluctuations in the energy industry.
Gross Production Tax revenues had been decreasing month-over-month since April, but rose slightly in July by about $600,000 — a 0.7% increase.
The report said oil and gas prices “seem stuck” right now, in part due to the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries also lowered its demand forecast last week.
“This was taken as acknowledgement that oil demand is rising slower than before,” the report said.
After three months of falling, the Oklahoma Stock Index is back up. The index tracks the performance of Oklahoma-based companies that trade on the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq Stock Market, and in July, it rose by 4.23%.
