Mortgage Rates Push Higher in the Week Ending March 31, 2022—The Fourth Consecutive Increase

Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for the week ending March 31, 2022. The PMMS reports that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.67% with an average 0.8 point, up from last week when it averaged 4.42%. A year ago, at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.18%.

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.83% with an average 0.8 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.63%. A year ago, at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 2.45%.

The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.50% with an average 0.3 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.36%. A year ago, at this time, the 5-year ARM averaged 2.84%.

In remarks prepared for the release of this week’s PMMS report, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist, Sam Khater said, “Mortgage rates continued moving upward in the face of rapidly rising inflation as well as the prospect of strong demand for goods and ongoing supply disruptions. Purchase demand has weakened modestly but has continued to outpace expectations. This is largely due to unmet demand from first-time homebuyers as well as a select few who had been waiting for rates to hit a cyclical low.”