Mortgage rates fell this week, with the average rate on 30-year
fixed-rate mortgages falling below 5% to a four-month low,
according to Freddie Mac's (FRE) weekly survey of mortgage
rates.
Meanwhile, the 15-year fixed rate dropped to 4.36%, the lowest
figure since Freddie began tracking such mortgages in 1991. The
average rate was 4.46% last week and 5.78% last year. Five-year
Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages also hit a record
low, dropping to 4.42% from 4.51% and 6%, respectively.
After yields on Treasurys rebounded from the multi-decade lows
they hit earlier this year, they have since retraced some - taking
mortgage rates along with them.
According to the Commerce Department's data for August, new home
sales rose for the fifth time but existing home sales fell
unexpectedly, breaking four months of improvement. And while the
S&P Case-Shiller indexes showed home prices increased again in
July from the prior month, Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard
W. Fisher warned on Tuesday that housing, though stabilizing, was
still "on life support."
The 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.94% for the week
ended Thursday, down from last week's 5.04% average and 6.1% a year
ago. The last time the 30-year fixed rate mortgage was below 5% was
the week ending May 28, when it averaged 4.91%.
Meanwhile, one-year Treasury-indexed ARMs were at 4.49%, down
from 4.52% last week and 5.12% last year.
To obtain the rates, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage required
payment of an average 0.7 point, while the 15-year fixed and
five-year adjustable required an average 0.6 point. The one-year
carried an average 0.5 point. A point is 1% of the mortgage amount,
charged as prepaid interest.
-By Mike Barris and Joan E. Solsman, Dow Jones Newswires;
212-416-2330; mike.barris@dowjones.com