Fixed-Rate Mortgages Fall to New 2011 Lows

Fixed mortgage rates have dropped for the fifth consecutive week to put them at their lowest point of the year. The declines continue despite reports of mixed economic and housing data. Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), on the other hand, increased for the first time in over a month.
[IMAGE] ""Freddie Mac"":http://www.freddiemac.com said Thursday that rates on a 30-year fixed mortgage averaged 4.61 percent (0.7 point) for the week ending May 19, 2011. That's down from 4.63 percent last week. A year ago at this time, the 30-year rate was 4.84 percent.

The average 15-year fixed rate mortgage came in at 3.80 percent (0.7 point) this week, dropping from 3.82 percent last week. It was 4.24 percent 12 months ago.

Freddie Mac's ""weekly mortgage rate survey"":http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/ is calculated using data reported from approximately 125 lenders across the country.

[COLUMN_BREAK]

Both terms of ARM loans reported in Freddie's survey posted an increase this week. The 5-year ARM rose from 3.41 percent to 3.48 percent (0.6 point), while the 1-year ARM climbed from 3.11 percent to 3.15 percent (0.6 point).

On the week's economic data, Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist, noted that industrial production was unchanged in April owing to disruptions in automobile parts supplies due to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Netting out automobiles and gasoline, retail sales rose 0.2 percent in April, which was less than a third of the increase in March and the weakest growth since December 2010. Nothaft explained. However, consumer confidence, as measured by the University of Michigan, rose above the market consensus in May to the highest reading since February.

""Data on the housing market was also mixed,"" Nothaft said. New construction on single-family homes fell 5.1 percent in April. Homebuilder confidence remained unchanged in May and near its January 2009 historical low, according to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index.""

Nothaft pointed out, however, that conventional mortgages applications have risen for the past five straight weeks ending May 13th, buoyed by lower mortgage rates and stronger refinancing activity.