Fixed mortgage rates in the United States remained unchanged this week, reflecting the lowest rate on record for the fifth consecutive week, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
The mortgage lender said that 30-year fixed-rate mortgages (FRM) stood at four percent for the week ending 1 December, compared to 3.98 percent last week and 4.46 percent over the same period last year.
Analysts said that although borrowing costs were near record lows, it took time to trickle down to home buyers.
Meanwhile, FRM for 15-year loans averaged 3.3 percent, down from 3.81 percent a year ago. The five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) stood at 2.9 percent, dropping from 2.91 percent last week.
Frank Nothaft, Vice President and Chief Economist of Freddie Mac, said “the extraordinarily low mortgage rates of the past month may provide a needed spur to housing activity.”
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