Conforming mortgage rates remained steady despite many indications that the Federal Reserve is considering bumping up short-term interest rates, according to the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
The government-sponsored enterprise's survey found that the average 30-year fixed-rate conforming mortgage dropped a single basis point from the previous week to 3.93%. It is the fifth consecutive week that this rate is under 4%. A year ago, that figure stood at 4.1%, Freddie Mac noted in an Aug. 20 press release.
The 15-year FRMs also witnessed an average rate decrease to 3.15% from 3.17% the week prior. Conversely, the average rate for a five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage rose one basis point from the previous week to 2.94%, while the one-year Treasury-indexed ARM rate stayed completely unchanged at 2.62%.
"There was little movement in financial markets this week," Freddie Mac chief economist Sean Becketti said in the release. "Housing markets have responded positively to low mortgage rates — the 30-year fixed mortgage rate has been below 4% for five consecutive weeks Overall housing markets remain on track for the best year since 2007."
