Freddie Mac Reports Mortgage Rates Remain Near Historical Lows

MCLEAN, Va. — Freddie Mac yesterday released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey, showing that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) rate averaged 3.60 percent, unchanged from last week.

Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, says, “The sound and fury of the financial markets continue to warn of an impending recession, however, the silver lining is mortgage demand reached a three-year high this week. The decline in mortgage rates over the last month is causing a spike in refinancing activity – as homeowners currently have $2 trillion in conventional mortgage loans that are in the money – which will help support consumer balance sheets and increase household cash flow. On top of that, purchase demand is up seven percent from a year ago.”

News Facts

• 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.60 percent with an average 0.5 point for the week ending Aug 15, 2019, unchanged from last week. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.53 percent. 
• 15-year FRM averaged 3.07 percent with an average 0.5 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.05 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.01 percent. 
• 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.35 percent with an average 0.3 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.36 percent. A year ago at this time, the 5-year ARM averaged 3.87 percent.