Freddie Mac: Mortgage Rates Remain Flat in December 19th Report

Freddie Mac released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey^® (“PMMS”^®), showing that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (“FRM”) averaged 3.73 percent, unchanged from a week ago.

“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.”

Khater continued, “The demand is clearly not being met for entry-level Millennials and trade-up Generation X home buyers. If there was more inventory of unsold homes for buyers to choose from, home sales would be rising at a faster rate.”

News Facts

– 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.73 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending December 19, 2019, unchanged from last week. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.62 percent.

– 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.19 percent with an average 0.7 point, unchanged from last week. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.07 percent.

– 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (“ARM”) averaged 3.37 percent with an average 0.4 point, up slightly from last week when it averaged 3.36 percent. A year ago at this time, the 5-year ARM averaged 3.98 percent.

Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total upfront cost of obtaining the mortgage. Visit the following link for the Definitions. Borrowers may still pay closing costs which are not included in the survey.

Freddie Mac makes home possible for millions of families and individuals by providing mortgage capital to lenders. Since our creation by Congress in 1970, we’ve made housing more accessible and affordable for homebuyers and renters in communities nationwide. We are building a better housing finance system for homebuyers, renters, lenders, investors and taxpayers. Learn more at FreddieMac.com, Twitter @FreddieMac and Freddie Mac’s blog FreddieMac.com/blog.

Contact:

Angela Waugaman – Angela_Waugaman@FreddieMac.com – (703) 714-4829

Source: Freddie Mac