Mortgage rates crashed through the 3 percent floor for the first time since Freddie Mac began tracking rates.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage 2.98 percent for the week ending Thursday, Freddie Mac announced in its Primary Mortgage Market Survey. It is the lowest rate in the survey’s history dating back to 1971.
“The drop has led to increased homebuyer demand and, these low rates have been capitalized into asset prices in support of the financial markets,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist. “However, the countervailing force for the economy has been the rise in new virus cases which has caused the economic recovery to stagnate, and this economic pause puts many temporary layoffs at risk of ossifying into permanent job losses.”
The survey found:
- The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.98 percent with an average 0.7 point, down from last week’s 3.03 percent and 3.81 percent last year at this time.
- The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.48 percent with an average 0.7 point, down from last week’s 2.51 percent and last year’s 3.23 percent.
- The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 3.06 percent with an average 0.3 point, up from last week’s 3.02 percent and down from last year’s 3.48 percent.
The full report is here.