Mortgage rates were basically flat this week, as the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage remained unchanged 3.73%, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
A year ago at this time, the average rate for a 30-year was 4.62%.
The average rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage was 3.19%, also unchanged from last week.
A year ago at this time, the average rate for a 15-year was 4.07%.
The average rate for a five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) was 3.37%, up slightly from 3.36% last week.
A year ago, the average rate for a five-year ARM was 3.98%.
“The economy continued to pick up momentum with a solid increase in residential construction, improvement in industrial output in our nation’s factories and a rise in job openings,” says Sam Khater, chief economist for Freddie Mac, in a statement. “While the economy is in a sweet spot, improvements in housing market sales volumes will be modest heading into next year simply due to the lack of available inventory.”
“The demand is clearly not being met for entry-level millennials and trade-up Generation X home buyers,” Khater adds. “If there was more inventory of unsold homes for buyers to choose from, home sales would be rising at a faster rate.”