Mortgage Rates Rise Just A Bit
Mortgage rates rose ever so slightly this week, reflecting nearly a month of stable rates after swings in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.33 percent, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey released Thursday.
“Mortgage rates have stabilized over the last few weeks as the market searches for direction in the fog of economic data,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist. “While financial markets initially rallied on the news of Federal Reserve support and are improving due to the Senate’s passage of a new small business stimulus, we continue to see a deep economic contraction amidst uncertainty about the recovery formation.”
The survey found:
- The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage average of 3.33 percent was up from last week’s 3.31 percent and well below last year’s 4.20 percent at this time.
- The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.86 percent, up from last week’s 2.80 percent and below last year’s 3.64 percent.
- The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable rate mortgage averaged 3.28 percent, down from last week’s 3.34 percent and last year’s 3.77 percent.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage now has averaged 3.33, 3.31, 3.33 and 3.33 over the last four weeks. Even with the historically low rates, mortgage applications remain depressed across the country – other the refinances – amid tightening credit and stay-at-home orders due to the coronavirus.