The new year brought the same old story – record low mortgage rates.
Freddie Mac’s weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey released Thursday showed the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage plunged to their lowest levels in the survey’s history, dating back to 1971.
The survey found:
- The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.65 percent with an average 0.7 point, down from last week’s 2.67 percent and 3.64 percent last year at this time.
- The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.16 percent with an average 0.6 point, down from last week’s 2.17 percent and last year’s 3.07 percent.
- The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 2.75 percent with an average 0.3 point, up from last week’s when it averaged 2.71 percent and last year’s 3.30 percent.
“A new year, a new record low mortgage rate,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist. “Despite a full percentage point decline in rates over the past year, housing affordability has decreased because these low rates have been offset by rising home prices. However, the forces behind the drop in rates have been shifting over the last few months and rates are poised to rise modestly this year. The combination of rising mortgage rates and increasing home prices will accelerate the decline in affordability and further squeeze potential homebuyers during the spring home sales season.”