Current Mortgage Interest Rates for the Week of December 28, 2015

Mortgage interest rates change daily. Keep up with current rates to make the best decision on your home mortgage.

*Average rates from a lender survey of 100+ lenders as reported by Freddie Mac PMMS. Fees and points vary. These are average rates only and intended to give a snapshot of overall market movements, not specifically available rates. For a personalized rate quote click here.

This Week’s Mortgage Rate Forecast

Mortgage rates have been surprisingly soft over the past few weeks with the 30 year fixed rate bouncing around between 3.98% and 3.93% since mid-November.

According to Freddie Mac’s most recent mortgage survey, the 30 year fixed rate is at 3.96%, down just one basis point from 3.97%. The 15 year fixed rate held steady from the week before at 3.22% while the 5/1-Yr ARM rose slightly from 3.03% to 3.06%.

One year ago the 30 year fixed rate came in at 3.83% and the 15 at 3.15%. The 5/1 hybrid barely moved over the past year as the 5/1 last year was right at 3.01%.

Click here to check current mortgage rates for FHA, VA, USDA and Conventional loans.

Will Mortgage Rates Rise or Fall?

• It has been a quiet week and that was to be expected as Christmas fell on a Friday, making for a short week for many. That left traders on holiday and off the trading floor. Mortgage bonds held relatively steady as well with the 30 year FNMA 3.5 coupon opening at 102.3 and staying in a very tight range.
• With yet another holiday-shortened week and the last week of the year, expect a quiet week for economic news. Not much news to be released that could impact mortgage rates with perhaps initial jobless claims making some news, although that’s not very likely.
• Pending home sales as well as Case-Shiller’s most recent 20-city value index will be released to give us a glimpse on the strength of the housing market. Existing home sales fell last month by more than 10.0%.

Your Mortgage Rate Strategy

Low rates over the past year has helped boost the housing market yet the sharp reduction in the number of existing home sales in November surprised many.

That sort of fall is typically reminiscent of recessionary times and we’re from that. However, new lending regulations regarding the “Know Before you Owe” disclosure rules could be to blame for much of the decrease as lenders are still adjusting to the new TRID guidelines.

Looking farther out, it’s very likely we’ll see rates in their current range will into Q1 of 2016.

Click here for up-to-the-minute rates.