Average fixed mortgage rates in the U.S. fell for the second
week in a row, according to mortgage-finance company Freddie Mac
(FMCC), potentially increasing the affordability of buying a home
as the key season for the housing market gets under way.
A series of data have been suggesting the key season for the
housing market has been getting off to a slow start this year,
including a February drop in pending home sales, a measure of early
spring activity. Rising home prices and borrowing costs have been
among the pressures on the market.
On Thursday, Freddie Mac Chief Economist Frank Nothaft noted in
a statement that housing starts for March rose less than expected,
while housing permits dropped 2.4% last month, and that the
February tally was revised lower.
For the week ended Thursday, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage
averaged 4.27%, compared with 4.34% a week earlier and 3.41% a year
earlier. Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.33%,
compared with 3.38% the previous week and 2.64% a year earlier.
Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages, or
ARMs, on average, were 3.03%, compared with 3.09% the previous week
and 2.6% a year earlier. One-year Treasury-indexed ARM rates on
average were 2.44%, compared with 2.41% the previous week and 2.63%
a year earlier.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
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