Average U.S. mortgage interest rates declined for the week ending May 2, 2019, after increasing four consecutive weeks, according to Freddie Mac's weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
Average 30-year interest rates have remained below year-ago levels for 12 consecutive weeks. The 30-year mortgage interest rate averaged above 5 percent as recently as November 2018, but interest rates declined rapidly earlier this year.
"Slightly weaker inflation and labor economic data caused mortgage rates to dip this week," Sam Khater, Freddie Mac's chief economist, said. "Moving into summer, we expect rates to be about a quarter to half a percentage point lower than where they were last year, which is good news for the housing market. These lower rates combined with solid economic growth, low inflation, and rebounding consumer confidence should provide a solid foundation for home sales to continue to improve over the next couple of months."
The 15-year, fixed-rate mortgage loan averaged 3.60 percent, with an average 0.4 point, down from 3.64 the prior week. A year ago, the 15-year note averaged 4.03 percent.
The five-year, adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.68 percent, with an average 0.4 point, a decline from the week before when it averaged 3.77 percent. During the same week in 2018, the five-year ARM averaged 3.69 percent.