Mortgage Rates Starting To Ease

Long term mortgages rates declined slightly last week although none reached the record lows that were established a few weeks ago

According to results of Freddie Mac’s weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the period ended May 21, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.82 percent with 0.7 point compared to 4.86 percent with 0.6 point a week earlier.

The 15-year FRM carried an average rate of 4.50 percent with 0.7 point.  Last week the average rate was 4.52 percent with 0.6 point.

The five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) was also down slightly from the previous week, averaging 4.79 percent compared to 4.82 percent.  Fees and points were unchanged at 0.6 point.

Freddie Mac’s one-year Treasury-indexed ARM numbers were the only ones that increased during the week.  The one-year rate was up 11 basis points to 4.82 percent.  Fees and points remained at 0.6 point

“Long-term fixed-rate mortgage rates have remained below 5.0 percent for the past 10 weeks as the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve (Fed) act to keep interest rates low through security purchases,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist.  “The Treasury purchased $136 billion in mortgage-backed securities through April and the Fed bought $740 billion through mid-May.  In addition, the Fed purchased $115 billion in Treasury bonds since March of this year.


“Housing construction continued to decline, as total starts fell to the lowest level since the Census Bureau began its monthly series in January 1959.  While single-family construction appears to be near or at a bottom, multi-unit construction continued to recede.  Reflecting the apparent stabilization in single-family construction levels, homebuilder confidence rose in May to the highest level since September 2008 and represented the first back-to-back up tick since February 2008.”

Weekly yields were announced by Fannie Mae on May 18. 

During the week ended May 15, the average yield of the conventional 30-year FRM was 4.34 percent, down from 4.57 percent the previous week.  Yields on the 15-year FRM were also down from 4.15 percent to 4.20 percent. 

Government guaranteed FHA and VA mortgages dropped substantially, from 5.88 percent to 5.14 percent.

The yield on Fannie Mae’s variable rate mortgage was also down.  One-year ARM’s had an average yield of 3.16 percent compared to 3.37 percent a week earlier.

All Fannie Mae figures are reported on a net basis and do not include servicing fees.