30-year mortgage rate sinks below 3%

Mortgage rates for 30-year loans fell below 3% this week for the first time in five decades.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage sank to 2.98% this week, down from 3.03%, according to the latest Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater said that the sub-3% rates spurred some action in the housing market.

“The drop has led to increased homebuyer demand, and these low rates have been capitalized into asset prices in support of the financial markets,” he said.

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage posted a three-basis-point decline, down to 2.48% from last week’s average of 2.51% and lower than last year’s level of 3.23%.

Meanwhile, the 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) inched up from 3.02% to 3.06% week over week. A year ago at this time, the interest rate for the 5-year AMR averaged 3.48%.

“However, the countervailing force for the economy has been the rise in new virus cases, which has caused the economic recovery to stagnate, and this economic pause puts many temporary layoffs at risk of ossifying into permanent job losses,” Khater said.