Mortgage rates reversed course from their consistent decreases as of late, possibly due to a stronger than expected September Jobs report, seeing a surge that hasn’t been seen since this past April.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) grew from last week’s average of 6.12% to a current average of 6.32%, according to the latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®) from Freddie Mac released Thursday.
“We should remember that the rise in rates is largely due to shifts in expectations and not the underlying economy, which has been strong for most of the year,” said Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist Sam Khater. “Although higher rates make affordability more challenging, it shows the economic strength that should continue to support the recovery of the housing market.”
This week’s numbers:
- The 30-year FRM averaged 6.32%, up from last week when it averaged 6.12%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 7.57%.
- The 15-year FRM averaged 5.41%, up from last week when it averaged 5.25%. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 6.89%.
“Although mortgage rates have fluctuated recently, the recent declines may have offered some relief to homebuyers who have been grappling with high rates,” commented Realtor.com Economist Jiayi Xu. “Specifically, homebuyers in markets with higher mortgage usage, such as Washington DC, Denver, CO, and Raleigh, NC may be more sensitive to these lower rates and more likely to return to the market. In contrast, markets like New Orleans, LA, Buffalo, NY, and Pittsburgh, PA, which have a higher percentage of outright homeowners, may experience a degree of insulation from the impact of declining mortgage rates.
She continued, “While we don’t expect any significant declines in mortgage rates by the end of year, existing homeowners could continue to leverage their record-high equity to take advantage of opportunities in today’s housing market, despite 84% of existing mortgages having a rate of 6% or lower.”
