Freddie Mac Archives - The Michigan Star

Home Sales Drop in March as Mortgage Rates Surge over 7 Percent

April 22, 2024 Michigan Star Staff

Existing home sales shrank in March as consumers respond to continuing price increases and rising mortgage rates.

Sales for existing homes fell 4.3% in March compared to the previous month and 3.7% year-over-year, to an annual rate of 4.19 million, according to a press release from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The average for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage reached 7.10% this week, a substantial jump from 6.88% last week, depressing Americans’ desire to switch homes and possibly acquire a higher interest rate, according to a release from real estate giant Freddie Mac.

Average Long-Term Mortgage Rises to 6.94 Percent in Fourth Consecutive Weekly Increase

March 2, 2024 Michigan Star Staff

On Thursday, the average long-term mortgage rate in the United States rose for the fourth week in a row, in a setback for Americans looking to potentially buy a home in the traditional homebuying season of spring.

According to ABC News, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac announced that the average rate on a 30-year mortgage rose from 6.90% to 6.94%. Although this is slightly less than the recent high of 6.95% in December, it is still higher than what it was at the same time one year ago, when the average rate was 6.65%.

Outrage Continues over Federal Rule to Charge Higher Fees to Home Buyers with Better Credit

April 30, 2023 The Center Square

A new federal rule that would charge higher fees to home buyers with good credit to help subsidize those with poor credit goes into effect Monday.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced in January it would increase Loan-Level Price Adjustment fees for mortgage borrowers with higher credit scores to help keep fees lower for those with worse credit.

Existing Home Sales Slid 17.8 Percent Last Year

January 23, 2023January 22, 2023 The Center Square

Sales of existing homes fell 17.8% in 2022, marking the weakest sales performance since 2014 as interest rates climbed. Interest rates rose quickly last year, a factor that weighed on the residential real estate market. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.15% as of Jan. 19, down from 6.33% last week, but up from 3.56% a year ago, according to Freddie Mac.

Mortgage Rates Drop for Fifth Straight Week, Still More than Double from Year Ago

December 18, 2022December 17, 2022 Just the News

Mortgage rates continued a slow but steady decline over the past week, suggesting a small but notable reversal from the meteoric rise they underwent over the past year.

Thirty-year fixed mortgage rates “averaged 6.31 percent as of December 15, 2022, down from last week when it averaged 6.33 percent,” Freddie Mac said in its weekly rate update on Thursday.

Fifteen-year rates, meanwhile, averaged 5.54%, down from 5.67% last week.

U.S. 30-Year Fixed-Mortgage Rate over Six Percent for First Time Since 2008

September 20, 2022September 19, 2022 Just the News

Mortgage rates on Thursday climbed to a 14-year high, with the average 30-year-fixed rate rising above 6% for the first time since 2008.

Mortgage Bankers Association executive Joel Kan says the 6.01%, rate is “essentially double what it was a year ago.”

Americans Ring in 2022 with Highest Mortgage Rates Since the Pandemic Started

January 9, 2022January 8, 2022 Michigan Star Staff

Mortgage rates soared to their highest level since the beginning of the pandemic in the first week of 2022, according to Freddie Mac.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.22% in the week ending on Jan. 6, up from a 3.11% average during the previous week and marking the highest level since May 2020, Freddie Mac announced Thursday. The 30-year rate dropped to 2.65% in early 2021, its lowest level on record.

“Mortage rates increased during the first week of 2022 to the highest level since May 2020 and are more than half a percentage higher than January 2021,” said Sam Khater, chief economist at Freddie Mac, according to a company release.

Commentary: Trump Can Stop Biden from Funding Left-Wing Groups

December 14, 2020 Michigan Star Staff

Joe Biden promises to bring the Obama years back with a vengeance. One thing that’s likely to return is government slush funds for left-wing groups. Unless Trump takes decisive action, one of the biggest piggy banks for the Left will come from the Federal Housing Financial Agency (FHFA).

The Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear Collins v. Mnuchin. The case is a complicated matter that involves government management of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and how independent it is from the administration. The federal government placed both under conservatorship—meaning federal management—during the 2008 financial crisis. The agency in control was the Federal Housing Financial Agency. A federal appeals court previously ruled FHFA’s structure unconstitutional.