The rate for the 30-year mortgage stays below 4%
Mortgage rates for the week ending Dec. 19 held steady from the week before, according to Freddie Mac.
The Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.73%, unchanged from a week ago but lower compared to 4.55% last year at this time.
“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,” said Sam Khater, chief economist at Freddie Mac. “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 15-year FRM also did not budge from the prior week’s average of 3.19%. A year ago, the 15-year FRM was 4.01%.
Meanwhile, the 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) edged up from 3.36% from 3.37%. Last year, the 5-year ARM was 4%.
“The demand is clearly not being met for entry-level Millennials and trade-up Generation X home buyers,” Khater said. “If there was more inventory of unsold homes for buyers to choose from, home sales would be rising at a faster rate.”
