Source: Zillow.com

Mortgage rates for 30-year fixed mortgages declined once again this week after rising to 4.07 the previous week, Zillow.com data shows, with the current rate borrowers were quoted on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace at 3.92 percent, a drop from last week. This is only the second time that the rate has dropped below 4 percent since Aug. 10 and is a return to the lowest rate recorded since Zillow Mortgage Marketplace launched in April 2008. The rate hovered between 3.98 percent and 4.05 percent before diving to the current rate early this morning, Zillow says. The rate for av15-year fixed mortgage is 3.17. – Katherine Clarke
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A slowdown in economic activity has pushed fixed-rate mortgages slightly lower for the sixth consecutive week, marking a new low for 2011, according to the most recent fixed-rate mortgage survey from Freddie Mac.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.6 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending May 26, down from last week’s average of 4.61, and 4.84 for the same period in 2010. Fifteen-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.78 percent, down from last week’s 3.8 percent. “U.S. home prices indexes may be nearing a bottom soon,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.TRD [more]

Thirty-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.63 percent for the week ending May 12, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly primary mortgage market survey data. The figure marks four consecutive weeks of decline. The year high, Feb. 10, for 30-year mortgages was 5.05 percent.

A 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.82 percent this week compared with 4.3 percent a year ago.

Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 3.41 percent, down from 3.47 percent the week before and 3.95 percent a year earlier. One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs were 3.11 percent, a drop from 3.14 percent the prior week and 4.02 percent a year previous. TRD [more]

The average rates on the 30-year fixed mortgage dropped this week to 4.77 percent from 4.86 percent the previous week, after hitting a 40-year low of 4.17 percent in November, Freddie Mac said today. The rate of the 15-year mortgage loan dipped to 4.13 percent from 4.2 percent last week, with a 40-year low of 3.57 percent recorded in November. Rates have been steadily rising since November, as investors have shifted money into stocks, the Associated Press reported. Many predict that the tax-cut plan will spur economic growth and increase inflation. [more]

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage average fell to an all-time low of 4.19 percent for the week ending Oct. 14, down from 4.27 percent last week, Freddie Mac said today, marking the 23rd week in a row that the rate has been under five percent. The last time 30-year FRM rates were this low was April 1951. “September’s employment report held no big surprises to financial markets, allowing long-term bond yields and fix mortgage rates to continue to ease,” said Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist at Freddie Mac. “As a result, both the 30-year and 15-year fixed mortgage rates hit all-time record lows for the third consecutive week.” Historically low rates have spurred yet another refinancing wave, Nothaft added. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, conventional mortgage applications for refinance jumped 24 percent over the week of Oct. 8 to the strongest pace since mid-April 2009. TRD

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Home mortgage rates last week remained steady near recent lows, including a record low for the 15-year fixed-rate loan, Freddie Mac determined, according to the Wall Street Journal. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage average rose slightly to 4.79 percent for the week that ended Thursday, according to Freddie’s weekly survey. In the previous week, the average rate was 4.78 percent, the lowest
since December. The year-ago average for the 30-year home loan stood at 5.29 percent. “The economy grew at a slower rate than originally reported in the first three months of the year… which suggests inflation will remain tame in the near term,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, referring to revised data on U.S. gross domestic product. “As a result,” he said, “mortgage rates held at historic levels this week.” Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.2 percent, down from 4.21 percent in the prior week. [WSJ]

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The average rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage dropped to 4.78 percent this week from 4.84 percent a week earlier, according to a primary mortgage market survey released by Freddie Mac. It was the lowest level since early December, when rates fell to a record low of 4.71 percent. Also this week, the average rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 4.21 percent, the lowest level in almost two decades. Analysts attribute the drops to the European debt crisis, which has also caused yields for 10-year and 30-year Treasury bonds to dip to their lowest levels of 2010. But once Europe springs back and the U.S. economic recovery stays on track, rates are likely to move higher since traders will move their money back into riskier investments, analysts predict. “These low rates will help to elevate homebuyer affordability and soften the effects of the sunset of the homebuyer tax credit,” said Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist at Freddie Mac. “The credit substantially propelled home sales, as reflected in the strength of the April existing and new home sales, which were up 7.6 percent and 14.8 percent, respectively.” TRD

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Mortgage rates are now at historic lows, CNBC reported. The current average rate for a 30-year fixed loan is at 4.87 percent, according to Bankrate.com, the lowest rate for the 30 years since Bankrate started tracking these rates 25 years ago. This figure is slightly higher than last week’s Freddie Mac data, which put the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at an average contract interest rate of 4.84 percent. Jumbo loan rates — loans for more than $417,000 — have fallen as well, Bankrate, an aggregator of financial rate information determined, with the 30-year fixed loan rate at 4.5 percent, down from nearly 6 percent at this time last year. The drop can be attributed to the European debt crisis, as nervous investors flock to the U.S. Treasury Securities, which influences a host of consumer interest rates, including those on mortgages, according to CNBC. But analysts say the decline in rates probably won’t last, as worries over Europe fade and investors look at other assets besides U.S. Treasury Securities. [CNBC]

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