In its latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) revealed that 30-year fixed rate mortgages averaged 7.76 per cent, marginally down from last week when they were 7.79 per cent. A year ago, the average was 6.95 per cent.
Applications at lowest level since 1995
A separate weekly survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) also revealed that 30-year rates had marginally decreased but not enough to lift mortgage applications.
The MBA reported that the average rate for 30-year fixed rate mortgages was 7.86 per cent, down from 7.90 per cent last week. The average rate for the 15-year equivalents rose to 7.14 per cent from 7.08 per cent last week.
Meanwhile, mortgage applications decreased 2.1 per cent from one week earlier, their lowest level in since 1995.
Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist, said: “Mortgage applications declined for the third straight week as mortgage rates remained elevated, with all rates around 30 basis points higher than they were a month ago. The 30-year fixed rate dipped slightly to 7.86 percent but remained close to 23-year highs and has been above the 7-percent level since early August 2023.
“The impact of higher rates continued to be felt across both purchase and refinance markets. Purchase applications decreased to their lowest level since 1995 and refinance applications to the lowest level since January 2023.”
