News Facts

• 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.87 percent with an average 0.8 point for the week ending February 9, 2012, matching last week when it also averaged 3.87 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.05 percent. 
• 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.16 percent with an average 0.7 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.14 percent.A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.29 percent. 
• 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 2.83 percent this week, with an average 0.7 point, up from last week when it averaged 2.80 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 3.92 percent.
• 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.78 percent this week with an average 0.6 point, up from last week when it averaged 2.76 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 3.35 percent.  

Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total upfront cost of obtaining the mortgage. Visit the following links for Regional and National Mortgage Rate Details and Definitions. Borrowers may still pay closing costs which are not included in the survey.

Quotes
Attributed to Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist, Freddie Mac.

• "A strong January employment report added upward pressure to most mortgage rates this week. The economy gained 243,000 jobs last month, the largest monthly gain since April 2011, and the unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent, which was the lowest since February 2009.  Although historical revisions also added 266,000 even more workers, they caused the labor participation rate to fall to 63.7 percent, representing the smallest share since May 1983, which offset some of the rise in mortgage rates."