Mortgage Rates Fall With Latest Economic and Housing Reports

Mortgage interest rates have retreated for the second week in a row, according to a market report released Thursday by ""Freddie Mac"":http://www.freddiemac.com.
[IMAGE] Frank Nothaft, the GSE's chief economist, says rates followed Treasury bond yields lower this week amid weak economic data on local business conditions and another disappointing home price report.

""Regional Federal Reserve banks reported that business and manufacturing activities declined in Philadelphia, Dallas, and Richmond in April. In addition, the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite home price index recorded year-over-year declines through February in 19 of the 20 markets,"" Nothaft explained.

Freddie Mac reports that the rates on 30-year fixed mortgages averaged 4.78 percent (0.7 point) for the week

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ending April 28. That's down from 4.80 percent last week. Last year at this time, the 30-year rate came in at 5.06 percent.

Freddie Mac's ""weekly market survey"":http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/ calculates the average rate from data reported by approximately 125 lenders across the country.

The GSE says the 15-year fixed rate hit its lowest point this week since December 9, 2010, at 3.97 percent (0.7 point). Last week, the 15-year averaged 4.02 percent, and a year ago at this time it was 4.39 percent.

Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) also headed lower in Freddie's survey. The 5-year ARM dropped from 3.61 percent last week to 3.51 percent (0.6 point), while the 1-year ARM slipped from 3.16 percent to 3.15 percent (0.6 point).

Commenting on the broader market picture, Nothaft said, ""Declining home prices and a high level of foreclosures continue to affect housing tenure decisions.""

He went on to explain, ""Between the third quarter of last year and the first quarter of 2011, the housing stock experienced a decline of nearly 400,000 homeowners on net, according to the Census Bureau. However, the National Association of Realtors reported that during the same period there were almost 700,000 first-time homebuyers, which suggests gross losses may have been closer to 1.1 million homeowners over the October-through-March timeframe.""