April showers are said to bring May flowers, but this spring season, they are also bringing lower mortgage rates, Freddie Mac said this week.
According to the government sponsored enterprise’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.65 percent this week, down from last week when it averaged 3.67 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.33 percent.
That’s good news for potential homebuyers who may be venturing into the market this spring, said Len Kiefer, deputy chief economist at Freddie Mac.
“Purchase applications in 60 of the 100 markets that MiMi tracks are up from the same time last year, including 20 markets that are showing double-digit increases,” Kiefer said. “Reinforcing this positive momentum, existing home sales surged 6.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.19 million units in March, the highest annual rate since September 2013. Housing inventory rose 5.3 percent to 2 million homes for sale, but unsold inventory was little changed at a 4.6-month supply.”
Other highlights from Freddie Mac’s survey: The 15-year FRM this week averaged 2.92 percent, down from last week when it averaged 2.94 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.39 percent.
The five-year year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 2.84 percent this week, down from last week when it averaged 2.88 percent. A year ago, the five-year ARM averaged 3.03 percent.
