Mortgage rates were basically flat this week, with the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 3.18%, up slightly from 3.17% last week, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
A year ago, the average rate for a 30-year was 3.33%.
“Although mortgage rates remain low, we are beginning to see a pullback by those looking to enter the housing market,” says Sam Khater, chief economist for Freddie Mac, in a statement. “In fact, homebuyer demand has gone from 25 percent above pre-COVID levels at the start of the year, when mortgage rates hit record lows, to eight percent above pre-COVID levels today.
“We even see that purchase demand is diminished today as compared to late May and early June of 2020, when mortgage rates were the same level,” Khater adds. “This is confirmation that while purchase demand remains strong, the marginal buyer is feeling the affordability squeeze resulting from the increases in mortgage rates and home prices we’ve experienced in recent months.”
The average rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage was 2.45%, unchanged from last week but down from 2.82% a year ago.
The average rate for a five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) was 2.84%, unchanged from last week but down from 3.40% a year ago.
Photo: Tierra Mallorca
