Mortgage Rates Remain Virtually Unchanged, Linger at Historical Lows

After weeks of continuous declines, mortgage rates remained nearly flat for the week ending June 3, 2010, ""Freddie Mac"":http://www.freddiemac.com/ and ""Bankrate"":http://www.bankrate.com/ reported Thursday.

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According to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS), 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.79 percent with an average 0.8 point this week, barely inching up from last week's average of 4.78 percent. However, this week's average was significantly lower than last year at this time when 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.29 percent.

Freddie Mac said 15-year fixed-rate mortgages continued to decline, but only slightly. According to its PMMS, rates averaged 4.2 percent with an average 0.7 point this week, nudging down from 4.21 percent the week prior and considerably lower than this same week last year when 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.79 percent. Breaking last week's record, Freddie Mac said rates have not been lower since it started tracking 15-year fixed-rate mortgages in August of 1991.

""The economy grew at a slower rate than originally reported in the first three months of the year, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, which suggests inflation

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will remain tame in the near term,"" said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac VP and chief economist. ""As a result, mortgage rates held at historic levels this week. In fact, rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages set another record low for the third week in a row.""

Bankrate reported the same trend of rates nearly level with last week's averages, saying nervous investors and tenuous financial markets kept a lid on mortgage rates this week.

According to its weekly national survey, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.95 percent with an average 0.45 point this week, a minor uptick from 4.92 percent last week. In addition, Bankrate said 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.36 percent with an averaged 0.49 point, a slight jump from last week's average of 4.34 percent.

Bankrate said mortgage shoppers--whether homebuyers that are aiming to close by June 30 and capture the tax credit or current homeowners refinancing--have been direct beneficiaries of the global uncertainty surrounding financial turmoil overseas. And although the Federal Reserve is expected to leave short-term interest rates low for the time being, the tracking company said evidence of continued improvement in the U.S. economy will eventually lead to higher mortgage rates as the year progresses.

Complementing Bankrate's survey is its weekly Rate Trend Index, in which mortgage experts predict which way rates are headed over the next week. According to the panelists, rates have bottomed, but they may not be headed anywhere right away, as 62 percent expect mortgage rates to remain more or less unchanged over the next seven days. The remaining 38 percent said mortgage rates will likely increase in the coming week.