Mortgage rates decreased slightly this week, as the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 3.72%, down from 3.74% 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 4.51%.
For the week ended Jan. 2, the average rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage was 3.16%, down from 3.19%.
A year ago at this time, the average rate for a 15-year was 3.99%.
The average rate for a five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) was 3.46%, up slightly from 3.45%.
A year ago, the average rate for a five-year ARM was 3.98%.
“The combination of improved economic data and market sentiment has led to stability in mortgage rates, which have hovered around 3.7 percent for nearly the last two months,” says Sam Khater, chief economist for Freddie Mac, in a statement. “The stability is welcome news after the interest rate turbulence of the last year, which caused a slowdown in the housing market and other interest rate sensitive sectors. The low mortgage rate environment combined with the red-hot labor market is setting the stage for a continued rise in home sales and home prices.”