December 4, 2012 (Jeff Alan)
The average interest rates for conventional 30-year fixed rate single-family, fully amortized, purchase-money mortgages decreased from 3.76 percent in September to 3.62 percent in October according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) Monthly Interest Rate Survey.
The results of the survey reflect loans closed during the October 25-31 period from 28 lenders and data from 5,525 mortgage loans. Since mortgage loans typically take 30-45 to close, the reported rates reflect market conditions in mid to late September.
The average interest rate of all mortgage loans, fixed and adjustable-rate, was 3.44 percent in October, down from 3.55 percent in September.
The effective mortgage interest rate, including initial fees and charges, fell to 3.57 percent from 3.67 percent in September.
Twenty-one percent of all purchase-money mortgage loans were no-point loans, down from 22 percent in September, while initial fees and charges averaged 1.05 percent of the loan balance in October, up from 0.95 percent in September.
The average loan amount was $257,400 in October, up from $254,600 in September, with the average loan-to-price ratio increasing from 75.6 percent in September to 75.8 percent in October.
The National Average Contract Mortgage Rate for the Purchase of Previously Occupied Home by Combined Lenders, used to index some ARM contracts, declined to 3.44 percent from 3.56 percent in September.
Tags: FHFA, mortgage interest rates, purchase money mortgages, initial fees and charges, points, mortgage loan, ARM, no-points mortgage
Source:
FHFA