30-year rate largely in a holding pattern

Fixed-rate mortgage has barely budged for more than a month.

As the summer wound down, mortgage rates stagnated. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate — the most popular home loan product — has barely budged for more than a month.

According to the latest data released Thursday by Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate average crept up to 2.88% with an average 0.7 point. (Points are fees paid to a lender equal to 1% of the loan amount. They are in addition to the interest rate.) It was 2.87% a week ago and 2.86% a year ago. Since the 30-year fixed average jumped from 2.77% to 2.87% in early August, it has essentially held steady the past five weeks.

Freddie Mac, the federally chartered mortgage investor, aggregates rates from around 80 lenders across the country to come up with weekly national averages. The survey is based on home purchase mortgages. Rates for refinances may be different. It uses rates for high-quality borrowers with strong credit scores and large down payments. Because of the criteria, these rates are not available to every borrower.

The 15-year fixed-rate average

ticked up to 2.19% with an average 0.6 point. It was 2.18% a week ago and 2.37% a year ago. The five-year adjustable rate average edged up to 2.42% with an average 0.3 point. It was 2.43% a week ago and 3.11% a year ago.

“Mortgage rates remain at rest, having been at a relative standstill since the middle of June,” said Holden Lewis, home and mortgage specialist at Nerdwallet. “When they eventually make a move, they will follow the economy’s trajectory — probably upward. If they move downward, it will be because of a winter resurgence of COVID-19.”

Last week’s disappointing employment report had little effect on mortgage rates. The U.S. economy added a lackluster 235,000 jobs in August, falling well below what was forecast and a steep dropoff from June (962,000 jobs added) and July (1.1 million jobs added).

“While the economy continued to add jobs in August, the pace was lower than expected, but the unemployment rate improved nonetheless,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com. “With little economic data on tap this week, mortgage rates are likely to remain in their holding pattern. However, with inflation a simmering concern, when mortgage rates do begin to move, they will most likely move higher.”