WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- The mortgage rate rose slightly in the United States last week, the U.S. Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, commonly known as Freddie Mac, said on Thursday.
For the week ending Thursday, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) in the United States increased to 3.65 percent from the previous week's 3.64 percent.
The benchmark 30-year FRM was significantly lower than the previous year when it averaged 4.71 percent.
Besides, Freddie Mac noted that the 15-year FRM edged down to 3.14 percent, compared with 3.16 percent for the previous week and 4.15 percent for the same period a year ago.
"While mortgage rates generally held steady this week, overall mortgage demand remained very strong, rising over fifty percent from a year ago thanks to increases in both refinance and purchase mortgage applications," said Sam Khater, chief economist of Freddie Mac.
"As economic growth decelerates, it is clear that low mortgage rates will continue to support the mortgage market and we expect that to persist for the remainder of the year," said Khater.
Freddie Mac is a corporation founded by U.S. Congress to promote the stability and affordability in the U.S. housing market by purchasing mortgages from banks and other loan makers. It has been conducting weekly surveys on U.S. mortgage rates since April 1971. Enditem
