Mortgage rates stayed relatively flat last week, falling just slightly to an average of 5.09%, Freddie Mac reported Thursday.
Freddie’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) found that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.09%, down from last week’s 5.10%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 2.99%.
“Mortgage rates continued to inch downward this week but are still significantly higher than last year, affecting affordability and purchase demand,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist.
“Heading into the summer, the potential homebuyer pool has shrunk, supply is on the rise and the housing market is normalizing. This is welcome news following unprecedented market tightness over the last couple of years.”
Mortgage purchase applications are down 14% YOY while the seasonally-adjusted index is down 1% just from last week. And though new listings are flat, active listings fell 10% YOY, the smallest decline since April 2020, Redfin reported.
“The sudden surge in mortgage rates led to a sudden and significant cooldown in the housing market in May,” said Redfin Economics Research Lead Chen Zhao.
“However, mortgage rates are now stabilizing and homes remain in short supply, so while we do expect home-price growth rates to decline, we don’t expect prices to fall much at the national level.”
Additional findings from Thursday’s report:
- 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.32% with an average 0.8 point.
- A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 2.27%.
- 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 4.04% with an average 0.3 point.
- A year ago at this time, the 5-year ARM averaged 2.64%.