September 27, 2011 (Jeff Alan)

The average interest rates for conventional 30-year fixed rate mortgages declined from 4.69 percent in July to 4.63 percent in August according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) Monthly Interest Rate Survey.

The results of the survey reflect loans closed during the August 25-31 period from 35 lenders and data from 4,987 mortgage loans. Since mortgage loans typically take 30-45 to close, the reported rates reflect market conditions in mid to late July.

The average interest rate of all mortgage loans, fixed and adjustable-rate, was 4.52 percent in August, down from 4.55 percent in July.

The effective mortgage interest rate, including initial fees and charges, was 4.65 percent in August, down from 4.67 percent in July.

Thirty percent of all purchase-money mortgage loans were no-point loans, consistent with the levels seen over the past five months.

Initial fees and charges averaged 0.90 percent of the loan balance in August, up from 0.85 percent in July.

The average loan amount increased in August to $214,300 from $213,800 in July, with the average loan-to-price ratio increasing from 77.2 percent in July to 76.3 percent in August.

The National Average Contract Mortgage Rate for the Purchase of Previously Occupied Home by Combined Lenders, used to index some ARM contracts, decreased from 4.57 percent in July to 4.56 percent in August.

Tags: FHFA, mortgage interest rates, purchase money mortgages, initial fees and charges, points, mortgage loan, ARM, no-points mortgage

Source:
FHFA