The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.73%, unchanged from a week ago, Freddie Mac reports.
“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, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “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.”
Indeed, the National Association of REALTORS®’ Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said home sales could be “choppy when inventory levels are low,” but he noted that the economy is otherwise performing very well and buyer demand remains high. NAR released its existing-home sales report on Thursday, which showed sales slipped by 1.7% month over month in November. Read more: November Sales Slip Not Indicative of Larger Trend
Freddie Mac reported the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending Dec. 19:
- 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.73%, with an average 0.7 point, unchanged from last week. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 4.62%.
- 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.19%, with an average 0.7 point, unchanged from last week. A year ago, 15-year rates averaged 4.07%.
- 5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 3.37%, with an average 0.4 point, rising from last week’s 3.36% average. A year ago, 5-year ARMs averaged 3.98%.
Source: magazine.realtor
