www.washingtonpost.com Saturday, August 8, 2009
Rates on 30-year mortgages dipped this week after economic reports came in better than expected, Freddie Mac said Thursday.
The average rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage was 5.22 percent, down from 5.25 percent last week. Last year at this time, the 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate averaged 6.52 percent.
Low mortgage rates can spur refinance activity and make home buying more attractive. Rates on 30-year mortgages dropped to a record low of 4.78 percent earlier this year.
Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said the economy slowed by an annual rate of 1 percent in the second quarter, “which was more positive than market forecasts.”
“Homebuyer demand improved as well, aided by high levels of housing affordability,” he said.
Freddie Mac collects mortgage rates Monday through Wednesday of each week from lenders around the country. Rates often fluctuate significantly, even within a given day.
Lower rates may increase demand for homes in the fourth year of the housing recession.
New home sales jumped 11 percent in June, the biggest gain in eight years as homebuilders reduced prices, the Commerce Department said last week. The median price fell 12 percent, to $206,200, from a year earlier.
Sales of existing homes rose for a third consecutive month in June, the National Association of Realtors said last week.
The average rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 4.63 percent from 4.69 percent last week, Freddie Mac said.
Rates on five-year, adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 4.73 percent, down from 4.75 percent last week. Rates on one-year, adjustable-rate mortgages dropped to 4.78 percent from 4.8 percent.
The rates do not include add-on fees known as points. The nationwide fee averaged 0.6 points for every loan in the survey except for one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, which averaged 0.5 points.
The Mortgage Bankers Association index of home loan applications increased 4.4 percent in the week ended July 31. Purchase applications gained 0.9 percent, and refinance requests rose 7.2 percent.
Social poster
Downloads
- No documents for download.
Track comments via RSS 2.0 feed. Feel free to post the comment, or trackback from your web site.
Currently there are no comments related to article "Mortgage Rates Fall on Good News".