Mortgage rates dropped this week after the release of September’s disappointing employment report, according to the latest survey conducted by mortgage buyer Freddie Mac.
In Freddie Mac’s weekly survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.74 percent for the week ended today, down from last week when it averaged 5.82 percent. The average for the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage this week is 5.14 percent, also down from last week when it averaged 5.24 percent. Points on both the 30- and 15-year averaged 0.6.
One-year Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 4.01 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, lower than last week when they averaged 4.08 percent.
“The decline in mortgage rates was primarily due to a weak employment report for September, which suggested economic growth is still a bit subdued. As a result, we expect mortgage rates will continue to stay quite affordable over the next few months, benefiting future home buyers,” said Freddie Mac’s chief economist Frank Nothaft. “Of late, there has been no compelling economic reason to believe mortgage rates would climb out of their recent range.
“Over the last few months, the interest-rate difference between fixed-rate mortgages and adjustable-rate mortgages has thinned. If this continues, ARMs may lose some appeal amongst homeowners in the coming months,” Nothaft said.
The following is a sampling of Bankrate’s average 30-year-mortgage interest rates this week in some U.S. metropolitan areas.
New York – 5.79 percent with 0.09 point
Los Angeles – 5.75 percent with 0.53 point
Chicago – 5.79 percent with 0.05 point
San Francisco – 5.78 percent with 0.3 point
Philadelphia – 5.77 percent with 0.13 point
Detroit – 5.73 percent with 0.25 point
Boston – 5.84 percent with no points
Houston – 5.67 percent with 0.8 point
Dallas – 5.72 percent with 0.52 point
Washington, D.C. – 5.66 percent with 0.46 point
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