The mortgage rates may not have been as prepared for the long climb up Mount Ratemore as they thought, because this week, the rates are still near the bottom (i.e. historic lows). Chances are they may rally and rise up again, though, so don’t get too comfortable. Word on the street is that they’re calling in the big guns to come and give them a boost. We’ll just have to watch and see what happens.
Speaking of calling in the big guns, I’m passing my PMMS baton to my smarter and prettier successor, Mr. Travis Pelto. Travis does improv, so that makes him an actor. And everyone knows that actors are smart and witty and handsome and can roundhouse kick bad guys while looking good in a suit and wins all the things (see Tim Robbins, Christopher Guest, Cary Grant, Chuck Norris, Daniel Craig, and Ryan Gosling respectively).
So in order to provide you with the best PMMS report you can find, I am calling in Travis, my big gun, to take over for me from here.
So long and thanks for all the fish, guys!
Now onto the rates:
30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to 3.56% with an average of .08 points. Last year at this time, the 30-year fixed-rate averaged 3.95%.
15-year fixed-rate mortgages stayed at 2.77% with an average of 0.8 points. Last year, the 15-year rate averaged 2.80%.
ARMs also slipped slightly from last week. The 5-year ARM hung onto 2.64% with an average 0.6 points. And the 1-year ARM was 2.65% this week with an average 0.3 points, up from last week’s 2.61%. A year ago the 5-year ARM and the 1-year ARM averaged 2.80% and 2.73%, respectively.
And now, a word from our friend Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist at Freddie Mac:
“Mortgage rates have been relatively stable, hovering near record lows, for the past four weeks which is helping to spur new home construction. For instance, new construction on single-family houses rose to an annualized rate of 613,000 in January, the most since July 2008. In addition, single-family building permits were up to the highest issuance level since June 2008.”
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