Mortgage rates continue to decline while lowering borrowing costs for home buyers this spring.
“Mortgage rates fell for the fourth consecutive week and continued the medium-term trend of lower rates since late 2018,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “The drop in mortgage rates is causing purchase demand to rise, and the mix of demand is skewing to the higher end as more affluent consumers are typically more responsive to declines in rates.”
Freddie Mac reports the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending May 23:
- 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 4.06%, with an average 0.5 point, falling from last week’s 4.07% average. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 4.66%.
- 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.51%, with an average 0.4 point, falling from a 3.53% average last week. A year ago, 15-year rates averaged 4.15%.
- 5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 3.68%, with an average 0.4 point, rising from last week’s 3.66% average. A year ago, 5-year ARMs averaged 3.87%.
Source: Freddie Mac