‘Affordability remains a major headwind for buyers,’ Freddie Mac says
Mortgage rates rose slightly in the latest week, but that didn’t deter home buyers.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose and averaged 6.66% as of January 11, according to data released by Freddie Mac FMCC, +1.39% on Thursday.
It’s up 4 basis points from the previous week — one basis point is equal to one-hundredth of one percentage point.
A year ago, the 30-year was averaging at 6.33%.
The average rate on the 15-year mortgage was 5.87%, down from 5.89% last week. The 15-year was at 5.52% a year ago.
Freddie Mac’s weekly report on mortgage rates is based on thousands of applications received from lenders across the country that are submitted to Freddie Mac when a borrower applies for a mortgage.
Separate data by Mortgage News Daily said that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was averaging at 6.78% as of Thursday afternoon.
What Freddie Mac said: “Mortgage rates have not moved materially over the last three weeks and remain in the mid-six percent range, which has marginally increased homebuyer demand,” Sam Khater, chief economist at Freddie Mac, said in a statement.
“Even this slight uptick in demand, combined with inventory that remains tight, continues to cause prices to rise faster than incomes, meaning affordability remains a major headwind for buyers,” he added.
What are they saying? “With rates expected to remain below 7 percent for the foreseeable future, [the Mortgage Bankers’ Association] anticipates renewed activity in the housing market heading into the spring, especially if housing supply continues to rise,” MBA’s president and CEO Bob Broeksmit said in a statement.