The housing market stays in favor of buyers
Mortgage rates mostly stabilized during the week ending July 11 but are still on the edge of three year-lows.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) remained unchanged from last week’s 3.75%, according to the latest results of Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey. Last year, the 30-year FRM was 4.53%.
“While rates have moderated, we’re still at nearly three-year lows, which is good news for buyers looking to purchase a home before school starts,” Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater said.
The 15-year FRM, on the other hand, went up to 3.22% from 3.18% the week before. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.02%.
The five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) also rose to 3.46% from the week prior, when it averaged 3.45%. In 2018, the five-year ARM was 3.86%.
“The recent stabilization in mortgage rates reflects modestly improving US economic data and a more accommodative tone from the Federal Reserve to respond to the rising downside economic risk from trade tensions and soft global economic data,” Khater said. “On the housing front, the latest weekly purchase application data suggests homebuyer demand continues to rise, which is consistent with the slowly improving real estate data from the last two months,” he said.
