Low rates helped improve refinance and purchase activities
Changing market conditions due to COVID-19 have pushed the interest rate for the 30-year mortgage down to its lowest level.
The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dived to 3.23% from 3.33% last week, Freddie Mac reported Thursday. A year ago at this time, 30-year mortgage averaged 4.14%.
“The size and depth of the secondary mortgage market are helping to keep rates at record lows. These low rates are driving higher refinance activity and have modestly helped improve purchase demand from their extremely low levels in mid-April,” said Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater. “While many people are benefitting from low mortgage rates, it’s important to remember that not all people are able to take advantage of them given the current pandemic.”
The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage was also down from last week's average of 2.86% to 2.77%. A year ago, the 15-year FRM was 3.6%.
The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage fell 13 basis points from 3.28% to 3.14% this week. The 5-year ARM averaged 3.68% this time in 2019.
