Fixed mortgage rates climb as the housing market ended 2011 on a high note. Still, this marks the eighth consecutive week 30-year below 4 percent.
Freddie Mac today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.98 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending January 26, 2012, down from last week when it averaged 3.88 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.8 percent.
Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist at Freddie Mac, reports, “Fixed mortgage rates ticked up this week as the housing market ended 2011 on a high note. New construction of one-family homes rose 4.4 percent in December to an annualized rate of 470,000, the most since April 2010. Existing home sales increased 5.0 percent at the end of the year to 4.61 million houses, the largest amount since May 2010. Furthermore, pending home sales in November and December averaged the highest reading since the March and April 2010 period.”
Primary Mortgage Market Survey [Freddie Mac]
Tags: Home Loans, Mortgage Rates