Residential Real Estate News
U.S. Mortgage Rates Hit 15-Year High in Late September
The 30-year fixed rate mortgage jumps to 6.70% this week
According to Freddie Mac's latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.70 percent.
"The uncertainty and volatility in financial markets is heavily impacting mortgage rates," said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac's Chief Economist. "Our survey indicates that the range of weekly rate quotes for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has more than doubled over the last year. This means that for the typical mortgage amount, a borrower who locked-in at the higher end of the range would pay several hundred dollars more than a borrower who locked-in at the lower end of the range."
Khater continued, "The large dispersion in rates means it has become even more important for homebuyers to shop around with different lenders."
U.S. Mortgage News Facts:
- 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.70 percent with an average 0.9 point as of September 29, 2022, up from last week when it averaged 6.29 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.01 percent.
- 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.96 percent with an average 1.3 point, up from last week when it averaged 5.44 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 2.28 percent.
- 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 5.30 percent with an average 0.4 point, up from last week when it averaged 4.97 percent. A year ago at this time, the 5-year ARM averaged 2.48 percent.
Nadia Evangelou, NAR senior economist & director of forecasting said, "Mortgage rates rose by more than one percentage point in September. According to Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate increased to 6.7% from 5.66% in the first week of September. As a result, home buying is 12% more expensive now than a month ago. In other words, current buyers need to spend about $250 more every month to buy a median-priced home compared to buyers who purchased their home a month ago. Due to fast-rising mortgage rates, the housing market has slowed down. However, as we head into the last quarter of the year, activity may decline even further. Every year, transactions and prices tend to be above-trend in the summer, while activity typically slows down in the fall and winter. The impact of seasonality is vital to the housing market since it affects housing demand and supply. Specifically, the fourth quarter is typically one of the slowest quarters for home sales, representing 24% of the total activity throughout the year. Compared to the third quarter, activity typically drops by 15 percentage points in the last quarter of the year. Nevertheless, this drop will be no surprise, with mortgage rates near 7% and an even larger reduction in home sales."
