According to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey, interest rates for U.S. home mortgages declined slightly or saw little change for the week ending Nov. 25.

“In a quiet week leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday, the 30-year mortgage rate dipped 2 basis points to 3.95 percent,” said Sean Becketti, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “Economic releases over the last week contained no major surprises, and none are expected in the next few days. The year is winding down, and the only remaining market dates of note are December 4 – the last employment report of the year – and December 15-16, the long-awaited FOMC meeting.”

The Federal Open Market Committee’s upcoming meeting will determine whether a rate hike will occur.
Freddie reports easing mortgage rates. The survey indicated the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage settled at 3.95%, which is slightly down from the previous week’s rate of 3.97%. A year ago interest rates averaged 3.17%.

While 30-year FRMs decreased, the average 15-year FRM remained unchanged at 3.18% when compared on a week-over-week basis, and the rate showed a small increase from 3.17% when compared on a year-over-year basis.

The average 1-year Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate mortgage settled at 2.59% which was slightly down from last week’s average of 2.64%. A year ago at this time the average interest was 2.44%.

The benchmark 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid ARM increased slightly from 2.98% the previous week to 3.01% the week ending Nov. 25. This week’s average matches the rate seen a year ago at this time.
Bankrate reported lower interest rates. According to Bankrate’s analysis of mortgage rates, 30-year FRMs decreased to 4.07% the week ending Nov. 24. The previous week’s average settled at 4.09%.
The average 15-year FRM also decreased from 3.31% to 3.29%.

While rates are low, a rate hike is still expected, which will likely encourage more interested homebuyers to invest in real estate.

“Realtors have reported that there are lots of ‘lookers’ and fewer ‘buyers,’” Joel Naroff, president and chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors noted in a blog post, according to Bankrate. “That should change when mortgage rates start rising.”

The housing market continues to show improvement, and more buyers entering the market will continue to bolster the industry.