Freddie Says: Mortgage Rates Mixed This Week

Mortgage rates were mixed this week, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly survey. The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 4.86 percent with an average 0.6 point, up from last week when it averaged 4.84 percent. Still a lot lower than last year’s average of 6.01 percent thanks to the recession and the government programs designed to lower mortgage rates.

15-year fixed rate mortgages averaged 4.52 percent with an average 0.6 point, up from last week’s average of  4.51 percent. Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 4.82 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 4.90 percent. One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 4.71 percent this week with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 4.78 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 5.18 percent

Freddie Mac’s vice president and chief economist Frank Nothaft said the following “Interest rates for fixed-rate mortgages were little changed this week following the release of April’s employment figures. The economy lost 539,000 jobs, less than the monthly job loss of the past five months, and the unemployment rate rose to 8.9 percent. ARM rates, however, fell slightly over the period.”

“Relatively low house prices and interest rates are clearly helping first-time homebuyers. Housing affordability for the median first-time buyer reached an all-time record high in the first quarter since the NAR index began in 1981. Consequently, first-time homebuyers accounted for half of existing home sales in the first three months of this year, the NAR reported.”