October 2, 2012 (Jeff Alan)
The average interest rates for conventional 30-year fixed rate single-family, fully amortized, purchase-money mortgages fell from 3.84 percent in July to 3.74 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 27-31 period from 26 lenders and data from 5,886 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 3.56 percent in August, down from 3.65 percent in July.
The effective mortgage interest rate, including initial fees and charges, fell to 3.69 percent from 3.78 percent in July.
Eight percent of all purchase-money mortgage loans were no-point loans, down from 20 percent in July, while initial fees and charges averaged 1.07 percent of the loan balance in August, up from 0.95 percent in July.
The average loan amount was $256,900 in August, down from $258,900 in July, with the average loan-to-price ratio declining from 76.1 percent in July to 75.8 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, fell from 3.66 percent in July to 3.56 percent in August.
Tags: FHFA, mortgage interest rates, purchase money mortgages, initial fees and charges, points, mortgage loan, ARM, no-points mortgage
Source:
FHFA