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Mortgage rates continued to inch down for the week ending May 20, 2010, ""Freddie Mac"":http://www.freddiemac.com/ and ""Bankrate"":http://www.bankrate.com/ reported Thursday.
[IMAGE]According to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.84 percent with an average 0.7 point this week, down from last week's average of 4.93 percent and just slightly higher than this same period last year when 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.82 percent. Freddie Mac said this is the lowest rates have been since the week ending December 10, 2009.
Freddie Mac also reported a decline in 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, which averaged 4.24 percent with an average 0.7 point this week. Rates fell from 4.30 percent last week and were lower than a year ago this time when 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.5 percent. According to Freddie Mac, rates have not been lower since it started tracking 15-year fixed-rate mortgages in August 1991.
Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) followed suit. This week, 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid ARMs averaged 3.91 percent with an average 0.6 point, a slight dip from last week's averaged of 3.95 percent. Freddie Mac said this is the lowest rate recorded since it began tracking 5-year ARMs in January 2005.
Additionally, 1-year ARMs averaged 4 percent with an average 0.6 point this week, inching down from 4.02 percent last week. This is the lowest rates have been since October 28, 2004, Freddie Mac said.
""Mortgage rates eased back once again this week to the lowest level of the year,"" said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac VP and chief economist. ""Low mortgage rates, coupled with the homebuyer tax credit, helped strengthen the housing market in the first four months of the year.""
Bankrate reported the same trend of declining rates. The company said the week-to-week drop was the result of global economic angst which continues to fuel demand for ultra-safe U.S. government debt.
According to its weekly national survey, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.96 percent with an average 0.5 point this week, falling from 5.07 percent last week. In addition, Bankrate said 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.34 percent with an averaged 0.48 point, down from last week's average of 4.45 percent.
The tracking company also reported a decrease in ARMs. According to its survey, 3-year ARMs slipped to 4.38 percent from 4.44 percent, and 5-year ARMs sank to 4.14 percent from 4.27 percent.
""While rates for both adjustable and fixed mortgage rates are hitting record lows, the risk of higher interest rates in future years highlights the value of today's record low, sub 5-percent fixed mortgage rates,"" Bankrate said.
Complementing Bankrate's survey is its weekly Rate Trend Index, in which mortgage experts predict which way rates are headed over the next week. More than half of the panelists â€" 52 percent â€" said mortgage rates will remain more or less unchanged over the next seven days. The remaining panelists were split right down the middle, as 24 percent forecast an increase in rates, and another 24 percent said rates will decrease even further.
