Freddie Mac today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing fixed-rate mortgages changing little amid sluggish economic, mixed housing data, and ongoing concerns over the European debt markets. The 30-year fixed remained unchanged at 4.09 percent, while the 15-year fixed dropped a single basis point to 3.29 percent, marking a new record low.
Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist at Freddie Mac, reports, "A sluggish economy and investor concerns over the European debt markets left mortgage rates largely unchanged this week. Manufacturing activity in both the New York and Philadelphia regions contracted in September. Moreover, the Federal Reserve Board reported that households lost nearly $150 billion in net worth in the second quarter, representing the first quarterly decline in a year."
"Meanwhile, recent data on the housing market were mixed. The Census Bureau reported that new housing construction dipped five percent in August to an annual pace of 571,000 homes, and homebuilder confidence remained near record lows for September according to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. Existing home sales, however, rose to 5.03 million homes in August, which represented the strongest annualized rate since March of this year."
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