Mortgage rate holds steady in U.S. housing market

WASHINGTON, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Mortgage rate remained stable in the United States last week, the U.S. Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, commonly known as Freddie Mac, said Thursday.

For the week ending July 11, 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) in the United States held steady at 3.75 percent from the previous week. The 30-year FRM, the benchmark mortgage rate, was significantly lower than the averaged rate of 4.53 percent in the same period last year.

Freddie Mac noted that the 15-year FRM this week rose to 3.22 percent, which was higher than the previous week's reading of 3.18 percent. It was also lower than the 4.02 percent rate in the same period last year.

"The recent stabilization in mortgage rates reflects modestly improving U.S. economic data and a more accommodative tone from the Federal Reserve to respond to the rising downside economic risk from trade tensions and soft global economic data," said Sam Khater, chief economist of Freddie Mac.

"On the housing front, the latest weekly purchase application data suggest homebuyer demand continues to rise, which is consistent with the slowly improving real estate data from the last two months," Khater added.

Freddie Mac, a corporation founded by U.S. Congress, aims to promote the stability and affordability in the U.S. housing market by purchasing mortgages from banks and other loan makers.

The corporation has been conducting weekly surveys on U.S. mortgage rate since April 1971.