Fixed mortgages rates fall lower again
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Rates back near all-time lows
Fixed mortgage rates decreased slightly week-over-week, heading back near record-low territory yet again, Freddie Mac said in its weekly mortgage report.
According to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the week ending October 18, 2012, fixed mortgage rates dropped while rates on a weekly basis, with 15-year fixed mortgages falling to a new all-time record low rate.
The average rate for 15-year fixed mortgages came in at 2.66 percent, down from 2.70 the previous week and 3.38 percent one year ago at this time. The 2.66 percent mark was a new historical low for the survey.
Rates for 30-yar fixed mortgages fell week-over-week, as well, dipping to 3.37 percent from 3.39 percent the previous week. The 3.37 percent average is just a hair above the all-time record low of 3.36 percent, Freddie Mac said.
One year ago at this time, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.11 percent.
Interest rates for adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) increased slightly, Freddie Mac reported.
Average rates for 5-year ARMs increased to 2.75 percent from 2.73 percent the previous week, while 1-year ARMs averaged 2.60 percent after averaging 2.59 percent one week earlier..
One year earlier at this time, 5-year ARMs averaged 3.01 percent, while 1-year ARMs averaged 2.94 percent.
Home construction increases
“Mortgage rates remained more or less unchanged this week as home construction builds up steam,” Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist at Freddie Mac, said in a statement. “Construction on single-family homes jumped to an annualized rate of 11 percent in August, the strongest pace since August 2008.”
Nothaft continued: “Over the first nine months of the year, single-family starts were 23 percent higher than the same period last year. Moreover, homebuilder confidence rose for the sixth consecutive month in October to the highest level since June 2006, according to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index.”
Posted in: Mortgage, Mortgage Rates, Refinance, Refinance Rates
Mortgage News: This article was published on 10-22-2012 at 8:27 am.
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