28/36 rule: Housing expenses (including mortgage payments, utilities, HOA fees and homeowners insurance) should be no more than 28% of your gross income and no more than 36% on debts overall. 30% rule: Keep monthly mortgage payments and other housing costs to no more than 30% of your take-home pay.

“As the spring homebuying season gets underway, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage saw the largest weekly decline since mid-September,” says Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater. “The decline in rates increases prospective homebuyers’ purchasing power and should provide a strong incentive to make a move."

After falling every day for almost two weeks, 30-year mortgage rates have moved higher the last two days. Rates climbed for most other loan types as well.

Most mortgage market observers began the year believing rates were more likely to rise than fall, but that hasn’t panned out. Rates ticked up slightly in early January but have fallen steadily since then in tandem with warning signs about the economy.

But there are signs that the mortgage rate climate could be cooling once again. Mortgage rates that plunged to 6.15% last September but then rose as inflation ticked up again in r

Mortgage rates in the United States have continued their downward trend, providing potential relief for homebuyers as the spring market gains momentum. The decline, now in its seventh consecutive week,