Average fixed mortgage rates moved lower this week following a weaker than expected jobs report in March, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®). The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.66 percent, down from 3.70 percent the previous week. The 15-year FRM averaged 2.93 percent, down from 2.98 percent the previous week.
“Mortgage rates fell across the board following last week’s disappointing employment report,” explains Len Kiefer, deputy chief economist, Freddie Mac. “The U.S. economy added 126,000 new jobs in March, well below market expectations of 247,000 jobs. We did see some uptick in wages, as average hourly earnings increased seven cents for the month, and are up 2.1 percent over the year. Meanwhile, jobless claims fell sharply to 268,000 this week, much lower than market expectations of 285,000.”
The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 2.83 percent this week, down from 2.92 percent the previous week. The 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.46 percent, unchanged from the previous week.
At this time last year, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.34 percent; the 15-year FRM averaged 3.38 percent; the 5-year ARM averaged 3.09 percent; and the 1-year ARM averaged 2.41 percent.
Source: Freddie Mac
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