Mortgage rates rose for all loans but remained low, this week. The 30-year fixed-rate is at 3.412 percent today, up 0.024 percent from yesterday. The 15-year fixed-rate is at 2.556 percent, up from 2.537 percent. The 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage is at 3.256 percent, up 0.036 percent from yesterday.
Mortgage borrowing set an all-time record high for the amount that Americans borrowed to purchase homes in 2021. Mortgage lenders issued $1.61 trillion in loans last year, fueled at least in part by steeply rising home prices that forced Americans to borrow more money. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that the average amount borrowed to purchase a home in November 2021 was $414,115. The U.S. Commerce Dept. reported that median sales prices for new homes rose almost 19 percent in November, while the National Association of REALTORS® reported that existing home sales prices jumped 13.9 percent from the prior year.
Sources: Motley Fool, Wall Street Journal, REALTOR® Magazine
REALTOR® | DRE# 02056018
Arielle Dixon 