Since reaching an all-time low in January, mortgage rates have risen , “and the impact on purchase demand has been noticeable,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “While purchase activity remains high, it has cooled off over the last few weeks and is currently on par with early March, prior to the pandemic.”

Still, Khater predicts that the rise in mortgage rates over the next couple of months will likely be more muted in comparison to the last few weeks. The National Association of REALTORS® agrees, forecasting the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage to average 3% for the first half of this year.

Freddie Mac reports the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending March 4:

30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.02%, with an average 0.6 point, increasing from last week’s 2.97% average. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 3.29%.

15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 2.34%, with an average 0.7 point, unchanged from last week. A year ago, 15-year rates averaged 2.79%.

Source: Freddie Macand “Instant Reaction: Mortgage Rates, March 4, 2021,” National Association of REALTORS® Economists’ Outlook blog (March 4, 2021)