Mortgage rates fell again last week, dropping to an average of 3.76% from 3.89%, Freddie Mac reported Thursday.
Freddie’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) found that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.76%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.02%.
“While inflationary pressures remain, the cascading impacts of the war in Ukraine have created market uncertainty,” Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater said. “Consequently, rates are expected to stay low in the short term but will likely increase in the coming months.”
The Fed said that it still plans to raise rates later this month despite uncertainty surrounding the Ukraine conflict. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank would stick to its plan to reduce its balance sheet bond holdings.
“The question now really is how the invasion of Ukraine, the ongoing war, the response from nations around the world — including sanctions — may have changed that expectation,” Powell said. “It’s too soon to say for sure, but for now I would say that we will proceed carefully along the lines of that plan.”
Additional findings from Thursday’s report:
- 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.01% with an average 0.8 point.
- A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 2.34%.
- 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 2.98% with an average 0.3 point.
- A year ago at this time, the 5-year ARM averaged 2.73%.