Click the graph to enlarge.
Like an indecisive girlfriend deciding what to wear or that same girlfriend deciding on what to eat at a restaurant, mortgage rates cannot make up their mind. Like a venting boyfriend, the Primary Mortgage Market Survey has been giving us the scoop on the behavior of rates for the past month. First they spiked up, dipped for a brief moment of respite, only to jump higher afterword. Since then it’s been up, down, up, (and now this week) down. Check out the raw numbers in this week’s change in rates, straight from Freddie Mac.
30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.37% with an average 0.7 point for the week ending July 18, 2013, down from last week when it averaged 4.51%. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.53%.
15-year FRM this week averaged 3.41% with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.53%. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 2.83%.
5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.17% this week with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.26%. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 2.69%.
1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.66% this week with an average 0.4 point, unchanged from last week. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 2.69%.
While rates are low, take them out for a nice night on the town. Maybe dinner and a movie, a baseball game—get creative! Seriously though, if your relationship is similar to the dramatic trends of mortgage rates, consider refinancing into a different home loan. For more information on how and why the rates are as sporadic as they are, here’s a quote from Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist of Freddie Mac.
“Fixed mortgage rates fell as Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke helped ease market concerns about the Fed reducing its bond purchases. During a question and answer session following a speech on July 10th, Chairman Bernanke indicated that a highly accommodative monetary policy is what’s needed in the U.S. economy.
“Indications of a slowing in the economic recovery also placed downward pressure on mortgage rates. Consumer sentiment fell to a three-month low in July while retail sales in June grew by only 0.4%, which was half of the market consensus forecast. In addition, housing starts fell in June to the slowest pace since August 2012.”
The post Fed Influences a Dip in Mortgage Rates appeared first on .