Mortgage rates fell for the second consecutive week, providing some relief to homebuyers during what is typically the busiest period for the housing market.

This has lent some support to homebuilder ETFs such as iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF (BATS:ITB), SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (NYSE:XHB), Invesco Dynamic Building & Construction ETF (NYSE:PKB) and Hoya Capital Housing ETF (NYSE:HOMZ).

As of Friday morning, ITB was up 0.7% while the other three funds were trading flat during the premarket session.

ETFs in Focus

ITB provides exposure to U.S. companies that manufacture residential homes by tracking the Dow Jones U.S. Select Home Construction Index. With Assets Under Management (AUM) of $2.6 billion, the fund charges 0.38% in annual fees and trades an average of 2.5 million shares a day. The fund has shed 2.3% year-to-date but gained 1.1% over the past month.

Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings indicate ITB has a weak pricing trend in short, medium and long term.

XHB follows the S&P Homebuilders Select Industry Index, charging investors 0.35% in annual fees. The fund has AUM of $1.5 billion and trades in an average daily volume of 1.9 million shares. XHB is up 0.15% since the start of the year and 2.6% over the past month.

Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings indicate XHB has a weak pricing trend in short, medium and long term.

With AUM of $441.9 million, PKB tracks the Dynamic Building & Construction Intellidex Index and trades in a lower volume of roughly 19,000 shares per day on average. It has an expense ratio of 0.57%. PKB gained 12.7% year-to-date and 8.1% over the past month.

Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings indicate PKB has a Momentum score in the 74th percentile and maintains a strong price trend in the short, medium and long term.

HOMZ tracks the Hoya Capital Housing 100 Index. The ETF has $34.4 million in AUM and charges 30 bps in annual fees. It trades in an average daily volume of 2,000 shares and is down 2.4% year-to-date. HOMZ has gained momentum over the past month, rising about 2%.

Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings indicate HOMZ has a weak pricing trend in short, medium and long term.

Mortgage Rates Fall

Per Freddie Mac’s latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage dropped to a four-week low of 6.30% as of April 16, down from 6.37% recorded last week and 6.83% in the year-ago week. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage also fell to 5.65% from 5.74% in the previous week and 6.03% in the year-ago week.

The decline in rates will make homeownership more attractive for first-time buyers, encouraging people to buy homes.

Is Pain for Housing Market Coming To An End?

The housing market has been under pressure from the US-Israeli war in Iran, which has stoked inflation concerns and driven mortgage rates higher after they slipped below 6% in late February.

Existing-home sales declined 3.6% month-over-month in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.98 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales also fell 1% from a year earlier. The U.S. homebuilder sentiment, as depicted by the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, dropped to a seven-month low in April. All these signals point to continued softness in the housing market.

The concerns have eased somewhat, with optimism returning after President Donald Trump said the Iran war “should be ending pretty soon.” This would lower inflationary pressure and send yields down, which often influences the direction of mortgage rates. The 10-year Treasury yield were at 4.301% at 5.16 a.m. ET, down from 4.349% last week.

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