MW Mortgage rates jump up, finish the year at a five-month high

By Aarthi Swaminathan

Mortgage rates jump 13 basis points in the last week of 2024, Freddie Mac says

U.S. mortgage rates jumped to the highest level in five months as the year drew to a close.

In the last full week of 2024, the 30-year mortgage rate rose to the highest level since mid-July, averaging 6.85% as of December 26, according to data released by Freddie Mac (FMCC) on Thursday.

It's up 13 basis points from the previous week - one basis point is equal to one hundredth of a percentage point.

A year ago, the 30-year was averaging at 6.61%.

The average rate on the 15-year mortgage was 6%, up from 5.92% last week. The 15-year was at 5.93% a year ago.

Freddie Mac's weekly report on mortgage rates is based on thousands of applications received from lenders across the country that are submitted to Freddie Mac when a borrower applies for a mortgage.

Separate data by Mortgage News Daily said that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was averaging at 7.1% as of Thursday morning.

Home prices climb higher, regardless of rates going up or down

Mortgage rates rose to finish off the year, but most consumers expect lower rates through 2025. And that's expected to re-ignite the housing market.

A record-high share of consumers expect mortgage rates to decline over the next 12 months, according to a December survey by Fannie Mae (FNMA), a government-sponsored enterprise that backs residential mortgages.

Fannie expects the 30-year to fall to an average of 6.4% in 2025, per its December forecast.

Home prices meanwhile continue to climb regardless of mortgage rates. A persistent shortfall of homes for sale pushed home prices up 4.7% in November, as compared to a year ago. The typical resale home was $406,100 that month, according to data from the National Association of Realtors.

Read more: Home sales rebound as buyers seize a dip in mortgage rates. Could the bump be short-lived?

"While some may have expected sustained higher mortgage rates to drive widespread house price declines, prices have proven resilient," Mark Fleming, chief economist at First American, said in a statement. His company also found that home prices accelerated in November on an annual basis, by 3.9%.

"House prices tend to be 'downside sticky' because home sellers would rather withdraw from the market than sell at a discount," Fleming said.

-Aarthi Swaminathan

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December 26, 2024 12:05 ET (17:05 GMT)

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