Freddie Mac recently released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS). It showed the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.60 percent.
“Mortgage rates are down following an increase of more than half a percent over five consecutive weeks,” Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater said in a release. “Turbulence in the financial markets is putting significant downward pressure on rates, which should benefit borrowers in the short-term.
“During times of high mortgage rate volatility, homebuyers would greatly benefit from shopping for additional rate quotes. Our research concludes that homebuyers can potentially save $600 to $1,200 annually by taking the time to shop among multiple lenders,” Khater added.
Some takeaways from the PMMS were:
- The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.60 percent as of March 16, down from last week when it averaged 6.73 percent. A year ago, at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.16 percent.
- The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.90 percent, down from last week when it averaged 5.95 percent. A year ago, at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.39 percent.
The PMMS is focused on conventional, conforming, fully amortizing home purchase loans for borrowers who put 20 percent down and have excellent credit.