Mortgage rates are flirting with dropping below 3 percent for the first time in history.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.03 percent for the week ending Thursday, the lowest rate in Freddie Mac’s mortgage survey that started nearly 50 years ago.
“The summer is heating up as record low mortgage rates continue to spur homebuyer demand,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist. “However, it remains to be seen whether the demand will continue if COVID cases rise to the point that it hinders economic growth.”
Even with the low rates, mortgage credit remains extremely tight. The Mortgage Bankers Association also announced Thursday that credit availability fell to its lowest level since April 2014.
Also Thursday, realtor.com announced that housing supply “remains the biggest factor slowing the recovery; total listings remain 31 percent lower than last year and more listings will need to enter the market for sustained improvement in home sales.”
The Freddie Mac report found:
- The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.03 percent with an average 0.8 point for the week, down from 3.07 percent last week and 3.75 percent a year ago.
- The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.51 percent with an average 0.8 point, down from last week’s 2.56 percent and last year’s 3.22 percent.
- The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 3.02 percent with an average 0.3 point, up slightly from last week’s 3.00 percent and last year’s 3.46 percent.
See the full report here.