Mortgage rates continued their downward slide, as the 5-year, 15-year, and 30-year mortgage rates all fell to record all-time lows, Freddie Mac said on Thursday.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) dropped by 0.05 percent to 4.27 percent and 0.8 point from last week, while the 15-year FRM averaged 3.72 percent and 0.7 point. Both were historic lows for Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey, which started keeping track of the 30-year plan in 1970 and the 15-year plan in 1991.
Rates for the 5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage dove to 3.47 percent, down almost a whole percentage point from last year (4.35 percent).
The new average mortgage rates are advantageous to new home owners, but a growth in the housing market is uncertain due to the recent expiration of home buyer tax breaks.
Home demand this year has been lackluster, but a recent report by the realtor group pointed to an increase in both home sales and new mortgages.
“Housing affordability increased for the second month in a row in August to tie April’s level, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). As a result, pending existing home sales also rose for the second consecutive month in August to the strongest pace in four months,” Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist at Freddie Mac said in a statement.
“Furthermore, since the end of August, mortgage applications for home purchases were up over 14 percent for the week ended October 1st.”
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) dropped by 0.05 percent to 4.27 percent and 0.8 point from last week, while the 15-year FRM averaged 3.72 percent and 0.7 point. Both were historic lows for Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey, which started keeping track of the 30-year plan in 1970 and the 15-year plan in 1991.
Rates for the 5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage dove to 3.47 percent, down almost a whole percentage point from last year (4.35 percent).
The new average mortgage rates are advantageous to new home owners, but a growth in the housing market is uncertain due to the recent expiration of home buyer tax breaks.
Home demand this year has been lackluster, but a recent report by the realtor group pointed to an increase in both home sales and new mortgages.
“Housing affordability increased for the second month in a row in August to tie April’s level, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). As a result, pending existing home sales also rose for the second consecutive month in August to the strongest pace in four months,” Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist at Freddie Mac said in a statement.
“Furthermore, since the end of August, mortgage applications for home purchases were up over 14 percent for the week ended October 1st.”
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