FMCC Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (QB)

By Dave Sebastian

Mortgage rates showed little change in the past week, according to Freddie Mac's latest survey.

For the week ended Thursday, the rate on a 30-day fixed rate mortgage averaged 2.88%, up slightly from 2.86% last week and lower than the 2.9% rate it averaged a year earlier.

Homebuyers continue to snap up available inventory, which has slightly improved, and home-price growth is moderating, said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac's chief economist. But the next few months will be choppy, as some homebuilders are signaling that they are going to deliver less supply amid shortages of labor and materials, he added.

Meanwhile, the slowdown in economic growth around the world has led to "a flight to the quality of the U.S. financial markets," Mr. Khater said. "This has led to a rise in foreign investor purchases of U.S. Treasuries, causing mortgage rates to remain in place, despite the increasing dispersion of inflation across different consumer goods and services," he said.

Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 2.15%, up from 2.12% in the previous week. Rates averaged 2.4% a year earlier, according to Freddie Mac.

Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages, or ARMs, on average stood at 2.43%, down from 2.51% last week and lower than the 2.9% rate a year earlier.

Mortgage rates tend to move in the same direction as the yield on the 10-year Treasury. Treasury yields rise when investors feel confident enough in the economy to forgo safe-haven assets such as bonds for riskier ones including stocks.

Write to Dave Sebastian at dave.sebastian@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 23, 2021 10:14 ET (14:14 GMT)

Federal Home Loan Mortgage (QB) (USOTC:FMCC)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024

Federal Home Loan Mortgage (QB) (USOTC:FMCC)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024