Mortgage rates edged down this week, with the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage falling to 2.73%, down from 2.77% last week and down from 3.51% a year ago, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
For the week ended January 28, the average rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage was 2.20%, down from 2.21% the previous week and down from 3.00% a year ago.
The a five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) was 2.80% unchanged from the previous week but down from 3.24% a year ago.
“As the market reacts to a new administration in Washington and COVID-19 driven economic malaise, mortgage rates continued to decrease this week, just slightly,” says Sam Khater, chief economist for Freddie Mac, in a statement. “Even as house prices increase at the fastest rate we’ve seen in years, competition to buy is strong given the low inventory that exists across the country. The fact that there are not enough homes to meet demand is going to be an ongoing issue for the foreseeable future.”