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Freddie Mac's Weekly Mortgage Market Survey for the week ended December 16 showed very little change from the previous week.
The survey is conducted with 125 lenders from across the country representing a mix of lender types including thrifts, mortgage companies, and commercial banks. Freddie attempts to keep the ratio of companies surveyed roughly in proportion to the market share of mortgage business each lender type enjoys.
30-year fixed rate mortgages last week averaged 5.68, down slightly from 5.71% the previous week. Average 15 year rates were also down .03 percent to 5.11%. ARMs, however, increased .03% to 4.18%
Fees and points were stable. 30 year mortgage points declined only slightly from 0.7 to 0.6 while 15 year and ARMs were unchanged at 0.6 and 0.7 respectively.
With only two Weekly Surveys to go, it is probably safe to state that rates have moved within a very narrow range for the entire year. The first Weekly Survey on January 8 had 30 year averages at 5.87%. The rate was as high as 6.34% on several occasions over the summer, but has remained below 6% since early August. ARM rates, despite a few small hills and valleys, have gradually trended upward, but are finishing the year only modestly higher than the January 8 average of 3.76%
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