Mortgage Rates Today, Friday, Dec. 30: End-Of-Year Declines Continue; Existing Home Sales Drop

On the last business day of 2016, 30-year fixed, 15-year fixed and 5/1 ARM mortgage rates all continued to fall,according to a NerdWalletsurvey of mortgage rates published by national lendersthis morning.

Mortgage Rates Today,
Friday, Dec.30

(Change from 12/29)
30-year fixed: 4.37% APR (-0.05)
15-year fixed: 3.80% APR (-0.05)
5/1 ARM: 3.85% APR (-0.02)

December existing home sales down slightly from November

According to its recently released Residential Real Estate Nowcast, online real estate transaction marketplace Ten-X indicates a modest month-over-month decrease in December existing home sales.

“December sales will fall between seasonally adjusted annual rates of 5.33 and 5.69 million,” per a statement Ten-X released this week, with a targeted number of 5.51 million, which is down 1.8% from last month, but up 0.9% from last year.

“It’s possible that we’re seeing the effect of rising mortgage rates slowing down existing home sales,” said Rick Sharga, Ten-X executive vice president. “It’s also possible that we may see the numbers trend upwards as buyers decide to enter the market before interest rates go even higher.”

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Ten-X chief economist Peter Muoio added in the release: “As we round out 2016, the U.S. housing market continues to benefit from a strong labor market, as solid job gains, low unemployment and promising wage growth fuel a high level of underlying demand for homes. While there are still headwinds to sales growth in the way of tight inventory, low affordability and the likelihood of mortgage rate increases, solid fundamentals continue pointing to the overall health of the housing market.”

Homeowners looking to lower their mortgage rate can shop for refinance lenders here.

NerdWallet daily mortgage rates are an average of the published APR with the lowest points for each loan term offeredby a sampling of major national lenders. Annual percentage rate quotes reflect an interest rate plus points, fees and other expenses, providingthe most accurate view of the costsa borrower might pay.

Mary Floryis an assistant assigning editorat NerdWallet, a personal finance website. Email: mflory@nerdwallet.com.

The article Mortgage Rates Today, Friday, Dec. 30: End-Of-Year Declines Continue; Existing Home Sales Drop originally appeared on NerdWallet.