DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Mortgage rates, including the average rate on 30-year fixed mortgages, declined again this week, according to Freddie Mac’s (FMCC) weekly survey of mortgage rates.
“Mortgage rates continued to decline this week following a mixed employment report,” Freddie Chief Economist Frank Nothaft said, noting the economy added the most workers in 11 months in April, though the unemployment rate rose to 9%, its highest reading since January.
Rates had slumped for much of last year, setting record lows in the process, as yields on Treasurys slid amid economic uncertainty. Before recent declines, rates had been rising this year. Mortgage rates generally track the yields, which move inversely to Treasury prices. Yields moved back near their lows of the year Thursday morning as investors sought save-haven investments with weakness in commodities and global equities.
Source: Freddie Mac
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.63% for the week ended Thursday, down from the prior week’s 4.71% average and 4.93% a year ago. Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages were 3.82%, down from 3.89% the previous week and 4.3% a year earlier.
Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 3.41%, down from 3.47% the prior week and 3.95% a year earlier. One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs were 3.11%, down from 3.14% the prior week and 4.02% a year earlier.
To obtain the rates, the fixed-rate mortgages required payment of an average 0.7 point, while the five-year adjustable required 0.6 point and one-year adjustable required a 0.5 point. A point is 1% of the mortgage amount, charged as prepaid interest.
-By Matt Jarzemsky, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2240;matthew.jarzemsky@dowjones.com
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