US Mortgage Rates Continue to Drift Lower

The average for the 15-year FRM this week is 6.14 percent, with an average 0.4 point, down from last week when it averaged 6.18 percent.  A year ago, the 15-year FRM averaged 5.32 percent.  This is the lowest the 15-year FRM has been since the week ending April 6, when it was 6.10 percent.

Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) fell to 6.11 percent this week, with an average 0.5 point, down from last week’s rate of 6.14 percent.  A year ago, the five-year ARM averaged 5.30 percent.  This is the lowest the five-year ARM has been since March 30, 2006, when it was 6.02 percent.

One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 5.59 percent this week, with an average 0.7 point, was down from last week when it averaged 5.60 percent.  At this time last year, the one-year ARM averaged 4.48 percent. This is the lowest the one-year ARM has been since April 6, 2006, when it was 5.57 percent.

(Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total cost of obtaining the mortgage.)

“Mortgage rates continued to drift lower this week in large part because of the cooling in the housing market and in consumer confidence, thus giving financial markets reason to believe that economic growth will moderate and inflation will remain in check,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist.  “As a matter of fact, the 30-year FRM is nearly 40 basis points lower than its peak of 6.8 percent in July of this year.”

“By some indicators, personal incomes are growing faster than the cost of housing.  Combined with the still historically low mortgage rates, this will help to support the housing industry as it levels off from the record highs of the last few years.”
 

Freddie Mac defines its regions as follows:
Northeast:  NY, NJ, PA, DE, MD, DC, VA, WV, PR, ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, CT, VI
Southeast:  NC, SC, TN, KY, GA, AL, FL, MS
North Central:  OH, IN, IL, MI, WI, MN, IA, ND, SD
Southwest:  TX, LA, NM, OK, AR, MO, KS, CO, NE, WY
West:  CA, AZ, NV, OR, WA, UT, ID, MT, HI, AK, GU   

DEFINITIONS
Commitment Rate is the interest rate a lender would charge to lend mortgage money to a qualified borrower exclusive of the fees and points required by the lender.  This commitment rate applies only to conventional financing on conforming mortgages with loan-to-value rates of 80 percent or less.
ARM Index –is the One-year Treasury
Loan to Value Ratio (LTV) is the ratio of the loan amount of a mortgage loan to the lower of the appraisal value or purchase price of the property securing the loan.
Origination Fees and Discount Points are the total charged by the lender at settlement. One point equals one percent of the loan amount.
Margin is a fixed amount added to the underlying index to establish the fully indexed rate for an ARM.
Weighted Averages for the Primary Mortgage Market Survey have been adjusted as of September 22, 2005. The new weights use the dollar volume of conventional mortgage originations within the 1-unit Freddie Mac loan limit as reported under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) for 2004.  The weights are listed in the table below.