Fixed Mortgage Rates Continue to Fall

Freddy Mac released today the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey, which showed fixed-rate mortgages declining for the seventh consecutive week to new lows amid continuing weak economic and housing data. The 30-year fixed averaged 4.55 percent and the 15-year averaged 3.74 percent.

News Facts

• 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.55 percent with an average 0.6 point for the week ending June 2, 2011, down from last week when it averaged 4.60 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.79 percent.
  

• 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.74 percent with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.78 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.20 percent.
  

• 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.41 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, the same from last week when it averaged 3.41 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 3.94 percent.

• 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 3.13 percent this week with an average 0.6 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.11 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 3.95 percent.

Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total cost of obtaining the mortgage. Visit the following links for Regional and National Mortgage Rate Details and Definitions.

Quotes

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

• "Fixed mortgage rates followed U.S. Treasury yields lower this week amid financial market concerns that the current lull in the economy is continuing. First quarter growth in consumer spending was revised downward by half of a percentage point to 2.2 percent, according to the Bureau of Economic Activity, consumer confidence in May was weaker than the market consensus forecast, and the manufacturing industry slowed for the third straight month in May.

• "The housing market is showing strain as well. The S&P/Case-Shiller® National Home Price Index fell 5.1 percent between the first quarters of 2010 and 2011, representing the largest annual decline since the third quarter of 2009. In addition, the index of pending existing home sales dropped 11.6 percent from March to April, led by the Midwest and South regions where the tornados and flooding occurred."

SOURCE Freddie Mac