It’s like that scene in Groundhog Day, where Chris Elliott’s character enters the Punxsutawney bachelor auction and is greeted by dead silence from the women in the crowd…. Once again, mortgage rates have dropped to record lows while potential home buyers continue to hold off on making a purchase.

According to Freddie Mac, the average 30-year fixed rate loan fell to a record-low 4.15% this week, down from last week’s near-record low of 4.32%.

The average 15-year fixed-rate mortgage continued to shatter the record, dropping to 3.36% this week, down from 3.5% last week.

And yet, month-over-month existing home sales dropped in July, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The chairman of the National Association of Home Builders gives his take on the situation to CNN:

At a time when homeownership is within reach of more households than it has been for more than two decades and interest rates are at historically low levels, the sluggish economy and the extremely tight credit conditions confronting home buyers and builders remain significant obstacles to many potential home sales.

As a number of you in the comments have pointed out, you might be interested in buying a new home, if you could just find someone to buy the one you currently own.

Rate on 30-year mortgage falls to lowest on record [ChicagoTribune.com]

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