Freddie Mac’s weekly survey put the average U.S. 30-year fixed mortgage rate at 7.11% on Nov. 12, extending a four-week decline but leaving borrowing costs above year-earlier levels.
The 30-year average was down from 7.18% the prior week. In the comparable week a year earlier, it stood at 6.24%. The latest reading was the lowest in seven weeks, Freddie Mac said.
The average for 15-year fixed mortgages also fell, reaching 6.45% from 6.57% a week earlier. It was 5.49% in the same period last year.
Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater called the decline “a welcome development,” saying it “gives borrowers greater flexibility as they navigate the current housing market.”
The company’s survey covers conventional home-purchase mortgages that meet its conforming standards and are fully amortizing. Its comparison assumes a 20% down payment and borrowers with excellent credit, Freddie Mac said.
In separate housing-finance data, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported that mortgage applications fell 5.3% in the week ended Oct. 16. The MBA measure counts requests for purchase or refinancing loans, rather than completed home sales. EconoTimes previously covered the decline in an earlier report on the MBA’s weekly applications.
The MBA also reported an average contract rate of 7.41% for conforming 30-year fixed loans in that survey, down from 7.50%. Purchase applications were 18% below their year-earlier level, according to EconoTimes’ earlier coverage. Those figures cover a different week and use the MBA’s contract-rate measure, while Freddie Mac’s latest reading comes from its own survey.
The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) has scheduled its October pending-sales report for Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 10 a.m. ET.
