Mortgage Rates Creep Up Again

Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey reported that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.09% for the week ending March 18, 2021. According to the report, first-time homebuyers could also be facing a few more obstacles ahead.

"As expected, mortgage rates continued to inch up but are still hovering around three percent, keeping interested buyers in the market," said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. "However, residential construction has declined for two consecutive months and given the very low inventory environment, competition among potential homebuyers is a challenging reality, especially for first-time homebuyers."

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is still down considerably from its 3.65% average for the same period in 2020. Additionally, the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.40%, up slightly from last week's average of 2.38%. A year ago, the 15-year averaged 3.06%. The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 2.79%, up from last week's average of 2.77%.‍

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