Mortgage rates edged up slightly this week, with the average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage at 6.22%, up from 6.17% last week, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
A year ago at this time, the average rate for a 30-year was 6.79%.
In a statement, Sam Khater, chief economist for Freddie Mac, says “affordability is slowly improving” and that the drop in rates from earlier this year has allowed home buyers “to save thousands annually.”
The average rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage this week was 5.50%, up from 5.41% last week but down from 6.00% a year ago.
Yesterday, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported that mortgage application volume fell 1.9% last week as rates increased slightly, with applications for refinances decreasing 3% compared with the previous week and applications for purchases decreasing 1% compared with the previous week.
Photo: Breno Assis