Housing & Finance
Mortgage Survey Eases to 7.11%, Still Above Its Year-Earlier Level
The weekly national benchmark fell, but it is not a personalized loan offer or a measurement of Washington home prices.
Weekly relief, different annual comparison
Freddie Mac’s November 12 survey places the average thirty-year fixed mortgage at 7.11 percent, down from 7.18 percent a week earlier. The comparable year-earlier figure was 6.24 percent. The weekly decline therefore does not mean borrowing costs have returned to last year’s level.
The shorter loan also declines
The fifteen-year fixed-rate average was 6.45 percent, compared with 6.57 percent the previous week and 5.49 percent a year earlier. A lower rate on a shorter term does not, by itself, establish the more affordable monthly payment: the principal is repaid over fewer years.
Know what the benchmark represents
The survey focuses on conventional, conforming, fully amortizing purchase mortgages for borrowers with excellent credit and twenty-percent down payments. It does not quote the rate available to every applicant or describe local inventory and sale prices. A household comparing offers should examine the same loan amount, term, fees and borrowing assumptions rather than treat a national weekly average as a lender’s commitment.
Primary evidence
Reporting note: This independently composed article is based on the linked primary records. Publication and event dates are stated separately. Agency claims are identified as such; an allegation, charge or scheduled event is not presented as a finding, conviction or completed event. Readers should consult the official record for amendments and later action.