Mortgage rates remained on their downward trajectory, falling to new lows amid declining bond yields and oil prices, the latest Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey said.
The 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.63% for the week ended Jan. 22, down from last week’s 3.66% and last year’s 4.39%. This is the lowest level since the week ended May 23, 2013, when it averaged 3.59%.
Also falling, the 15-year, FRM dropped to 2.93% from 2.98% last week and 3.44% a year ago.
The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 2.83%, compared to 2.90% the previous week and 3.15% a year ago.
Additionally, the 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM remained unchanged at 2.37%. However, it is down from last year’s 2.54%.
“Mortgage rates continued to fall, albeit at a slower pace, with the 30-year fixed rate mortgage averaging 3.63% this week. Housing starts picked up in December coming in at a seasonally adjusted 1.089 million unit pace and beating market expectations. Meanwhile, the drop in energy prices pushed the Producer Price Index down 0.3% for December and the Consumer Price Index fell 0.4%,” said Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist with Freddie Mac.
Bankrate reported mortgage rates slightly increasing, with the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage rising to 3.81%, up from 3.80% last week.
The 15-year, FRM grew to 3.18%, up from 3.11% a week ago, while the 5/1 ARM escalated to 3.19%, up from 3.09% a week ago.
“Mortgage rates moved up slightly in the past week, but remain at among the lowest levels since May 2013. Financial markets continue to be gripped by worries about the global economy, with terrorism and unrest only adding to the concerns. Those concerns, coupled with the expectation of quantitative easing from the European Central Bank, are keeping bond yields and mortgage rates at very low levels,” analysts with Bankrate said about the report.
