Mortgage interest rates inched up slightly during the week ended Dec. 31, but finished out 2014 at near-year-lows, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) was 3.87%, up from 3.83% the previous week. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.53%.
The average rate for a 15-year FRM was 3.15%, up from 3.10% the week prior. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.55%.
The average rate for a five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) was 3.01%, unchanged from the previous week. A year ago, the five-year ARM averaged 3.05%.
The average rate for a one-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.40% this week with an average 0.4 point, up from last week when it averaged 2.39%. At this time last year, the one-year ARM averaged 2.56%.
‘[Although] mortgage rates edged up this week, they remain near 2014 lows,’ explains Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist for Freddie Mac, in a release. ‘Looking at full-year data, the 30-year fixed-rate average for 2014 was 4.17 percent, the highest annual average since 2011. Also, the Conference Board reported that confidence among consumers rose in December, and the S&P/Case-Shiller Seasonally Adjusted National house price index rose 4.6 percent over the 12 months ending in October 2014.’