September 14, 2012 (Shirley Allen)
Mortgage rates showed little movement this week but are exected to go lower in the future as the Federal Reserve announced its latest round of quantative easing yesterday according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS) for the week ending September 13th.
Fixed Rate Mortgages:
Interest rates on fixed rate mortgages remained unchanged or moved slightly lower this week, with the 30-year fixed rate averaging 3.55 percent with an average of 0.6 points, unchanged from last week. It was the 25th consecutive week that mortgage rates have been under four percent. A year ago, the 30-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 4.09 percent.
Average 30-year rates were lowest in the Western area of the United States while the highest rates were reported in the Southeastern area of the country.
The 15-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 2.85 percent with an average of 0.6 points, down slightly from an average of 2.86 percent last week. Mortgage rates for the 15-year fixed mortgage have been under three percent for 16 consecutive weeks. At this time last year, the 15-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 3.30 percent.
Adjustable Rate Mortgages:
Interest rates for adjustable-rate mortgages also either remained unchanged or were down slightly from last week with the 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid ARM averaging 2.72 percent, with an average of 0.6 points, down from last week’s average of 2.78 percent. The 5-year adjustable rate mortgage averaged 2.99 percent a year earlier.
The 1-year Treasury-indexed adjustable rate mortgage averaged 2.61 percent with an average of 0.6 points, unchanged from last week. A year ago, the 1-year adjustable rate mortgage averaged 2.81 percent.
Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist of Freddie Mac, stated, “Despite a lackluster August employment report, Treasury bond yields and mortgage rates were little changed this week with the financial markets speculating on further monetary stimulus from the Federal Reserve. The economy added 96,000 net new workers in August, while revisions subtracted 41,000 from the prior two months; manufacturers cut 15,000 employees in August which represented the largest decline since August 2010. Meanwhile, approximately 368,000 people left the workforce thereby lowering the unemployment rate to 8.1 percent.”
30-Year Fixed Rate Mortgages | US | NE | SE | NC | SW | W |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Average | 3.55 | 3.56 | 3.60 | 3.55 | 3.59 | 3.50 |
Fees & Points | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.7 |
15-Year Fixed Rate Mortgages | US | NE | SE | NC | SW | W |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Average | 2.85 | 2.87 | 2.89 | 2.84 | 2.90 | 2.81 |
Fees & Points | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.6 |
5/1-Year Adjustable Rate Mortgages | US | NE | SE | NC | SW | W |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Average | 2.72 | 2.68 | 2.73 | 2.90 | 2.71 | 2.63 |
Fees & Points | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.6 |
Margin | 2.74 | 2.74 | 2.75 | 2.73 | 2.76 | 2.74 |
1-Year Adjustable Rate Mortgages | US | NE | SE | NC | SW | W |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Average | 2.61 | 2.58 | 2.63 | 2.58 | 2.70 | 2.60 |
Fees & Points | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
Margin | 2.76 | 2.80 | 2.75 | 2.73 | 2.77 | 2.75 |
The National Mortgage Rate Snapshot | One Year Ago | One Week Ago | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
30-YR | 15-YR | 5/1-YR | 1-YR ARM | 30-YR | 15-YR | 5/1-YR | 1-YR ARM | |
Average | 4.09 | 3.30 | 2.99 | 2.81 | 3.55 | 2.86 | 2.75 | 2.61 |
Fees & Points | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.4 |
Margin | N/A | N/A | 2.74 | 2.76 | N/A | N/A | 2.74 | 2.76 |
Tags: 15 year fixed, 30 year fixed, fixed rate mortgage, freddie mac, interest rates, mortgage rates, 5-year hybrid, 1-year treasury
Source:
Freddie Mac