Massachusetts Home Buyer Guide

The Massachusetts housing market is about to get interesting.

Mortgage interest rates continued the decline started about two months ago, dropping 22 basis points for the week ending March 28, 2019, just as the traditional spring real estate market gets underway.

The 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage loan averaged 4.06 percent, with an average 0.5 point, compared to 4.28 percent the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey. A year ago the same week, the 30-year note averaged 4.40 percent. Mortgage loan interest rates remained below year-ago levels for the seventh straight week.

“The Federal Reserve’s concern about the prospects for slowing economic growth caused investor jitters to drive down mortgage rates by the largest amount in over ten years," Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said. "Despite negative outlooks by some, the economy continues to churn out jobs, which is great for housing demand. We have recently seen home sales start to recover and with this week’s rate drop we expect a continued rise in purchase demand.”

The 15-year, fixed-rate mortgage loan averaged 3.57 percent, with an average 0.4 point, down from 3.71 percent the previous week and 3.90 percent the previous year.

The five-year adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.75 percent with, an average 0.3 point, compared to the previous week when it averaged 3.84 percent. The 5-year ARM averaged 3.66 percent during the same week last year.

Mortgage applications increased for the week ending March 22, 2019, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported March 27, 2019. The seasonally adjusted purchase index (as opposed to the refinance index) jumped 6 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted purchase index increased 7 percent compared with the previous week and rose 4 percent from the same week one year ago.