WASHINGTON — Despite the forecasts calling for rising mortgage rates in 2016, they aren’t rising yet — they fell a bit this week.
Freddie Mac says the average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage for borrowers with good credit was 3.92 percent this week, down from 3.97 percent last week. A 15-year fix fell to an average of 3.19 percent, down from 3.26 percent last week.
“Long-term Treasury yields continue to drop, dragging mortgage rates down with them,” says Freddie Mac chief economist Sean Becketti in the agency’s weekly report.
“Turbulence in overseas financial markets is generating a flight-to-quality which benefits U.S. Treasury securities.”
Falling oil prices are capping inflation expectations, which also affects borrowing costs, Freddie Mac says in the report.
With only a couple of exceptions, 30-year rates have remained historically low — below 4 percent — since last summer.
The low point for 30-year rates came in November 2012, when the average rate was just 3.31 percent.
