Another small drop for mortgage rates but a drop nonetheless. Rates have now fallen for the last seven weeks, according to the weekly survey from Freddie Mac.
- 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.27% as of December 22, 2022, down 4 basis points from last week and now down 78 basis points from the start of November. Unfortunately, rates are still 322 basis points higher than last year.
- 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.69%, up 15 basis points from last week and 339 basis points higher than last year.
Analysis. Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist, said this last 6 weeks have been great for wannabe homeowners. “Rates have declined significantly over the past six weeks, which is helpful for potential homebuyers, but new data indicates homeowners are hesitant to list their homes. Many of those homeowners are carefully weighing their options as more than two-thirds of current homeowners have a fixed mortgage rate of below four percent.”
MBS. Mortgage-Backed Securities were actually down for the week with the price for the UMBS 30YR 5.0 down 64 cents to $99.55 for the week ending December 21st.