According to Freddie Mac’s latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey for Mid-July 2020, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage in the U.S. averaged 2.98 percent, the lowest rate in the survey’s history dating back to 1971.
The cheap money seems to working to help the housing market recover from the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s latest Builder Application Survey for June 2020, mortgage applications for new home purchases in the U.S. increased 54.1 percent compared from a year ago. Compared to May 2020, applications increased by 20 percent.
“The new home purchase market continues to recover – applications surged 20 percent in June, and although this is not adjusted for seasonal impacts, it is another piece of data indicating that homebuying activity that was delayed by the pandemic in March and April is just being realized later in the season. The fact that applications are up over 50 percent from last June further reinforces that point,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting. “MBA estimates that new home sales in June increased 15 percent to a seasonally adjusted pace of 774,000 units – which would be the strongest level of activity since January 2020.”
- 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.98 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending July 16, 2020, down from 3.03 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.81 percent.
- 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.48 percent with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 2.51 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.23 percent.
- 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.06 percent with an average 0.3 point, up slightly from last week when it averaged 3.02 percent. A year ago at this time, the 5-year ARM averaged 3.48 percent.