Mortgage rates decreased over the past two months, before stabilizing in the last week of December. According to the newly released “Primary Mortgage Market Survey” from Freddie Mac, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.61 percent as of December 28, 2023. That represented a decline from the previous week when it averaged 6.67 percent. One year ago this week, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.42 percent.
Meanwhile, 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.93 percent as of December 28. That figure was down from last week, when the average was at 5.95 percent. One year ago at this time, the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.68 percent.
In a statement accompanying the report, a Freddie Mac official observed that as the new year begins, the economy continues to be on firm footing. Underpinning that solidity are a tight labor market, strong growth, decelerating inflation and housing market rebound that is only getting started.
Excellent credit
The PMMS focuses on conventional, conforming, fully amortizing owner-occupied home purchase loans for borrowers whose credit is excellent and who put 20 percent down on their home purchases. The PMMS results reflect information gleaned from actual applications from lenders nationwide submitted to Freddie Mac at the time borrowers apply for mortgages.
The PMMS was released just nine days after Freddie Mac unveiled its “2024 Multifamily Outlook”, which forecasted that, in spite of continued hurdles for the multifamily sector, 2024 will deliver positive growth, and that the long-term forecast remains upbeat. That outlook predicts an elevated pipeline of multifamily supply, along with the prospect for moderate rent gains. But it reports that greater stability in the interest-rate environment could help generate transaction volume in the year ahead.
