Freddie Mac's latest Primary Mortgage Survey has revealed that fixed-rate mortgages eased in the run up to Labor Day, after a period of moving higher during the previous month.
Speaking about the news, Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist, said: "Treasury bond yields fell, allowing mortgage rates to follow, after the release of the July 31st and August 1st minutes of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy committee. Committee members agreed that economic activity had decelerated more in recent months than they had anticipated at their last meeting in June. Some members even saw room for additional stimulus fairly soon if needed. Nonetheless, the housing market continued to show improvement over the past few months."
Nothaft then went on to detail how the number of new homes being sold had risen by 3.6% during the month or July, which was one of the strongest growths seen in the market since 2010, while existing pending home sales rose by 1.2% over the second quarter of the year. This was the first annual rise within a second quarter since 2010.
Nothaft highlighted how there was an average rate of 3.59% for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, which was down from 4.22% at the same time last year, while there was an average rate of 2.86% for the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage, down from 3.39% a year ago. Five- and one-year Treasury indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages also saw their rates drop.
