Mortgage rates in the United States fell again during the last week, with the average rate on 15-year and 30-year fixed mortgages beating their recently set record lows, according to data from Freddie Mac’s weekly survey of mortgage rates.
Interest rates on mortgages have remained at or near record lows as the market for Treasury notes have rallied and the stock market has remained volatile. Strong demand for Treasury Notes pushes interest rates on the notes down, resulting in lower mortgage rates which generally track Treasury yields.
Freddie Chief Economist Frank Nothaft commented. “For the sixth week in a row, interest rates on fixed-rate mortgages eased to all-time record lows during a week of mixed housing-data reports.” Nothaft noted that the number of markets that saw home price increases appears to be growing, citing recent the recent increase in the Case-Shiller Index, but also noted there was a decline in June existing home sales.
The survey showed that 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.54% for the week ended Thursday, down from the previous week’s rates of 4.56% and 5.25% a year ago. The 30 year interest rate remains at its lowest point since Freddie Mac began tracking the data in 1971. The 15-year fixed rate mortgages averaged a flat 4%, down from 4.03% in June and 4.69% at the same time last year. The 15 year fixed rate is at its lowest point when Freddie Mac started tracking the data in 1991.
The survey reported that five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 3.76%, lower than the prior week’s 3.79% and 4.75% a year earlier. One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs were 3.64%, down from 3.7% and 4.80%.
