Mortgage Rates Climb to 3% in the Week Ending May 20, 2021

Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for the week ending May 20, 2021. The PMMS reports that 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.00% with an average 0.6 point, up from last week when it averaged 2.94%. A year ago, at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.24%. The 15-year fixed-mortgage averaged 2.29% with an average 0.7 point, up from last week when it averaged 2.26%. A year ago, at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 2.70%. In prepared remarks, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist Sam Khater said, “After a run up over the first few months of the year, rates have paused and hovered around three percent since March. Despite this favorable rate climate, there remains a shortage of homes for sale. The lack of housing supply has been compounded by labor disruptions and expensive building materials that are driving up the cost of new housing, making it difficult for homebuyers to find homes to purchase.”


FEA compiles the Wood Markets News from various 3rd party sources to provide readers with the latest news impacting forest product markets. Opinions or views expressed in these articles do not necessarily represent those of FEA.