This week brought more news of declines in mortgage interest rates, according to releases from Freddie Mac [1] and Bankrate.com [2].
In its weekly published Primary Mortgage Market Survey, Freddie Mac put the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate at 4.23 percent (0.7 point) for the week ending February 6, down from 4.32 percent previously. A year ago, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) sat at 3.53 percent.
The 15-year FRM averaged 3.33 percent (0.7 point) this week, down from last week’s 3.40 percent.
Averages on adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) also fell, with the 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid ARM dropping 4 basis points to 3.08 percent (0.5 point) and the 1-year ARM decreasing the same amount to 2.51 percent (0.5 point).
Frank Nothaft, VP and chief economist for Freddie Mac, once again pointed to weaker housing data as a factor in this week’s rate changes, noting declines in December pending home sales [3] and a negative contribution to GDP [4] from fixed residential investment.
“Also, the Institute for Supply Management reported a significant slowing in growth in the manufacturing industry in December than the market consensus forecast,” Nothaft added.
In its own weekly survey, Bankrate reported a drop of 7 basis points in the 30-year fixed average to 4.43 percent, with the 15-year fixed falling 6 points to 3.50 percent.
The 5/1 ARM also declined, decreasing 10 basis points to 3.27 percent.
“Worries about a slowdown in the U.S. and global economics and continued skittishness about the health of emerging markets is pushing investors into safe haven U.S. Treasury securities,” Bankrate said in a release. “This has brought the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield from 3 percent down into the 2.6 percent neighborhood, with mortgage rates hitting levels last seen just before Thanksgiving.”