Long-term mortgage rates declined for the fourth consecutive week, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage survey.
Freddie Mac reported that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.66 percent for the week ended today, down slightly from last week when it averaged 5.67 percent. The average for the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage this week is 5.14 percent, down from last week when it averaged 5.15 percent. Points on both the 30- and 15-year averaged 0.6.
Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 5.02 percent this week, with an average 0.6 points, down from 5.05 last week. There is no historical information for last year since Freddie Mac began tracking this mortgage rate at the start of this year.
The one-year Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 4.18 percent this week, with an average 0.8 point, up from last week when it averaged 4.11 percent.
“Until the market gets a better read of how the economy performed at the end of last year and how the Fed interprets that information, interest rates will likely remain calm,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. “And it should get that read when fourth-quarter Gross Domestic Product is released tomorrow.
“Further, the Fed will release its policy statement next week, giving financial markets a better sense of what future actions the Fed may be contemplating. All of this will help determine where mortgage rates will be in the near future.”
The following is a sampling of Bankrate’s average 30-year-mortgage interest rates this week in some U.S. metropolitan areas.
New York – 5.74 percent with 0.08 point
Los Angeles – 5.75 percent with 0.52 point
Chicago – 5.69 percent with 0.11 point
San Francisco – 5.76 percent with 0.34 point
Philadelphia – 5.56 percent with 0.27 point
Detroit – 5.61 percent with 0.25 point
Boston – 5.72 percent with no points
Houston – 5.7 percent with 0.72 point
Dallas – 5.69 percent with 0.42 point
Washington, D.C. – 5.55 percent with 0.59 point
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