Mortgage Rates Reverse Course After Recent Increases

© REALTOR® Magazine

Following three consecutive weeks of increases, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage posted a drop this week. The average rate was 3.69%, Freddie Mac reports.

“After a yearlong slide, mortgage rates hit a cycle low in September 2019 and have risen in six out of the last nine weeks due to modestly better economic data and trade-related optimism,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “The improvement in sentiment has been one of the main drivers behind the surge in equity prices and will provide a halo effect to consumer spending heading into the important holiday shopping season.”

Freddie Mac reports the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending Nov. 7:

• 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.69%, with an average 0.5 point, falling from last week’s 3.78% average. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 4.94%.
• 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.13%, with an average 0.4 point, dropping from last week’s 3.19% average. A year ago, 15-year rates averaged 4.33%.
• 5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 3.39%, with an average 0.3 point, falling from last week’s 3.43% average. A year ago, 5-year ARMs averaged 4.14%.