According to Freddie Mac’s recent Primary Mortgage Market Survey ® (PMMS®), the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) ducked beneath four percent to 3.98 percent amid ups and downs on the home front and overseas.
The survey also indicates the average 15-year FRM declined to 3.17 percent, the 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) moved down to 2.95 percent, and the 1-year Treasury-indexed hybrid ARM decreased to 2.52 percent
“Monday’s eight percent decline in Chinese stock prices triggered similar–though smaller–sell-offs in global equity markets,” says Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sean Becketti. “The associated flight to quality drove U.S. Treasury yields down nearly five basis points. Accordingly 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell six basis points to 3.98 percent.
“Recent housing data exhibited the same good news, bad news pattern as overseas developments,” Becketti continues. “Coming into this week, existing-home sales for June and the latest FHFA house price measures both suggested a stronger tone in the housing market. However, this week brought nothing but bad–or at least weaker-than-expected–news. New-home sales and pending-home sales both weakened and the Case-Shiller house price indices, while positive, fell below the lower end of expectations. Finally, the inadvertent release of Fed staff projects increased uncertainty over the timing of future Fed rate moves.”
Source: Freddie Mac
