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Mortgage rates remain flat but could go lower this year

Photo by Precondo CA on Unsplash

The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage stayed flat this week from last week, but is still hovering near all-time lows, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly market survey. The average rate was reported at 3.33 percent, down from 4.12 percent at this time last year.

“While mortgage rates remained flat over the last week, there is room for rates to move down,” Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said in a statement.

“This year the 10-year Treasury market has declined by over a full percentage point, yet mortgage rates have only declined by one-third of a point,” Khater added. “As financial markets continue to heal, we expect mortgage rates will drift lower in the second half of 2020.”

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.77 percent, down from last week when it averaged 2.82 percent and down from last year when it averaged 3.6 percent this week in 2019.

The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 2.4 percent, the same as last week. This time last year, the rate was reported at an average of 3.8 percent.

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