A person closing on a mortgage in the month of October received on average a 3.62% interest rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage of $417,000 or less. That is down 14 basis points from the previous period’s 3.76% rate
The results generally reflect loans closed in the Oct. 25-31 time frame, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said.
The national average contract mortgage rate for the purchase of previously occupied homes by combined lenders hit 3.44% for loans closed in October, down 0.12% from the previous month.
The contract rate on the composite of all fixed-and adjustable rate mortgages hit 3.44% in October, down 11-basis points from 3.55% in September.
FHFA found that 21% of purchase-money mortgages originated in September were no-point loans, down 1% from September, and the average loan-to-price ratio in October was 75.8%, up 0.2% from 75.6% in September.
Freddie Mac also released its primary mortgage market survey, which showed mortgage rates for the most part unchanged in October and near record lows as concerns of the fiscal cliff stalled market confidence.
The 30-year, FRM average 3.32%, up slightly from 3.31% a week earlier. A year earlier the same rate held at 4%.
In addition, the 15-year, FRM averaged 2.64%, up from the previous week when it averaged 2.63%. A year ago, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.30%.
The 5-year, Treasury-indexed hybrid ARM hovered at 2.72%, down from 2.74% while the 5-year ARM averaged 2.90%.
The 1-year, Treasury-indexed ARM hit 2.56%, down from 2.78% a year earlier.
“Mortgage rates were virtually unchanged this week amid growing concerns around the fiscal cliff,” said Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist of Freddie Mac. “Although low mortgage rates failed to boost new home sales in October, year-to-date sales are up 20 percent compared with 2011 volumes, and there are growing signs of a turnaround in house prices.”
