Mortgage Rates Surpass 3 Percent For The First Time In Months

Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey reported that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.02%, surpassing the 3% mark for the first time in months, due to the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the increase over the past couple of weeks has been quite drastic, experts don't believe future increases will be as aggressive.

"Since reaching a low point in January, mortgage rates have risen by more than 30 basis points, and the impact on purchase demand has been noticeable," said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “While purchase activity remains high, it has cooled off over the last few weeks and is currently on par with early March, prior to the pandemic. However, the rise in mortgage rates over the next couple of months is likely to be more muted in comparison to the last few weeks, and we expect a strong spring sales season."

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is still lower year-over-year as it averaged 3.29% for the same period in 2020. Meanwhile, the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage was stagnant, averaging 2.34% and the 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 2.73% down from the previous week's average of 2.99%.

Click here to view more from Freddie Mac's PMMS.