30-year mortgage rate remains in the mid-6% range
US mortgage rates increased slightly over the past week, breaking the trend of continuous decline over the past two and a half months.
Freddie Mac reported that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.66%, up four basis points from the previous week’s average of 6.62% and higher than the 6.33% average recorded a year ago at this time.
The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage also saw a change, now averaging 5.87%, which is a small decrease from last week’s 5.89%. Compared to the previous year, this rate is also up from the 5.52% average.
According to Holden Lewis, home and mortgage expert from NerdWallet, this change came even before a surprisingly strong December jobs report, indicating a natural fluctuation in the market.
“This goes to show that rates can’t fall every week forever; they’ll occasionally bounce upward even as they trend downward this year,” Lewis said.
Freddie Mac chief economist Sam Khater commented that the marginal increase in homebuyer demand is due to the rates stabilizing in the mid-6% range over the past few weeks.
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“Mortgage rates have not moved materially over the last three weeks and remain in the mid-6% range, which has marginally increased homebuyer demand,” he said in Freddie Mac’s report. “Even this slight uptick in demand, combined with inventory that remains tight, continues to cause prices to rise faster than incomes, meaning affordability remains a major headwind for buyers.”
Khater advised potential homebuyers to look into state and local resources available, such as down payment assistance programs, which can be beneficial in managing the costs associated with purchasing a home.
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