After briefly dipping below 6% in early January, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has remained in a narrow range over the past three weeks, with weekly swings measured by three basis points at most.

The 30-year rate averaged 6.11% for the seven-day period ending Thursday, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly rate survey. Last week, it stood at 6.1%.

The 15-year fixed rate also rose just one basis point this week, from 5.49% to 5.5%.

Last year at this time, the 30-year rate averaged 6.89% and the 15-year averaged 6.05%

“For the last several weeks, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has remained at its lowest level in years,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, in a press release announcing the survey results. “The combination of improving affordability and availability of homes to purchase is a positive sign for buyers and sellers heading into the spring home sales season.”

The temporary breach of the 6% threshold occurred on Jan. 9. That was the day after President Donald Trump announced on social media that he had directed his “representatives” to buy $200 billion in mortgage-backed securities (MBS).

Later that day, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte confirmed that government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would be making the mortgage bond purchases.

Victor Kuznetsov, managing director and co-founder of Imperial Asset Management, noted in commentary provided to Scotsman Guide following Trump’s announcement that spreads on Fannie Mae-issued MBS with a 5% coupon “tightened by almost a point before retracing to about 75 basis points of tightening.”

The reduced yield spreads between agency MBS and 10-year Treasury bonds helped drive mortgage rates down, though rates have stabilized in subsequent weeks as markets began digesting the long-term impacts of the bond-buying campaign.

Other global factors were also at play, including a Japan bond market crash that pushed U.S. Treasury yields higher as Japanese investors sold U.S. bonds to cover domestic losses.