Freddie Mac: Mortgage rates are virtually stagnant

 Mortgage rates remained flat this week, likely due to a lack of construction activity, according to Freddie Mac’s latest Primary Mortgage Market survey.

Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater said mortgage rates moved sideways, primarily because of the mixed bag of economic data released this week.

“Manufacturing output and consumer spending showed improvements, but construction activity was a disappointment,” Khater said. “This meant there was no driving force to move mortgage rates in any meaningful way, which has been the theme in the last two months. That’s good news for price sensitive home shoppers, given that this stability in borrowing costs allows them a little extra time to find the right home.”

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“Unfortunately, don’t expect much relief from the tight inventory conditions plaguing many markets,” Khater added. “As seen again last month, new home construction is not picking up to meet demand, and as a result, home prices are still rising at double the pace of income growth.”

(Source: Freddie Mac)

According to the report, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.52% for the week ending July 19, 2018, down from 4.53% last week, and up from 3.96% last year.

The 15-year FRM fell to an average 4% this week, down from last week when it averaged 4.02%. This time last year, the 15-year FRM was 3.23%.

The five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 3.87% for this week, up from 3.86% last week, and up from this time last year when it was 3.21%.