Mortgage rates remain basically unchanged close to their record lows, according to the latest Freddie Mac (FMCC -0.37%) weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey data released today. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is averaging 3.32%, while the figures are 2.64%, 2.72%, and 2.56% for the 15-year fixed-rate, five-year adjustable-rate, and one-year adjustable-rate, respectively.
Freddie Mac attributed the lack of movement to increased concerns about the looming fiscal cliff, but said that new home sales are nevertheless up 20% on a year-to-date basis in volume terms when compared to the same period of 2011.Meanwhile, the S&P/Case-Shiller national home price index increased 3.6% year-over-year in the third quarter of this year.
So far in 2012, mortgage rates have consistently stayed near the bottom of their historical ranges. Freddie Mac pointed out that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has averaged below 4% every week save one this year, and its 15-year counterpart has averaged under 3% consistently since the final week of May.
