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Fixed Mortgage Rates Show Little Movement

Fixed mortgage rates showed little change for the second consecutive week amid mixed consumer confidence and housing data, and remain near their 60-year lows.

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""Freddie Mac"":http://www.freddiemac.com released the results of its regular ""weekly rate survey"":http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/ Thursday.

The GSE puts the average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage at 4.10 percent (0.8 point) for the week ending October 27. That down just one basis point from 4.11 percent last week. As a point of reference, last year at this time, the 30-year rate was averaging 4.23 percent.

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage came in at 3.38 percent (0.7 point) this week, unchanged from last week. A year ago at this time, the 15-year rate averaged 3.66 percent.

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Freddie Mac’s chief economist Frank Nothaft says fixed mortgage rates followed the path of other long-term interest rates this week and showed little change, on average.

Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) exhibited slightly wider swings. The 5-year ARM is now averaging 3.08 percent (0.5 point), up from 3.01 percent last week. A year ago, the 5-year ARM was 3.41 percent.

Freddie Mac reports the average rate on a 1-year ARM to be 2.90 percent (0.6 point) this week. It was 2.94 percent last week and 3.30 percent this time last year.

Nothaft points to mixed signals from key market indicators, with consumer confidence soft, house prices largely flat, and new home sales up from very low levels.

“Consumer confidence fell below the market consensus forecast in October to the lowest reading since March 2009,” he explained.

At the same time, Nothaft notes that the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s index of home prices declined 0.1 percent in August, while the S&P/Case-Shiller index rose 0.2 percent over the same period, with 10 of the 20 cities measured registering a dip in values.

That data was followed by a 5.7 percent increase in new home sales in September, marking the sector’s strongest reading since April.

About Author: Carrie Bay

Carrie Bay is a freelance writer for DS News and its sister publication MReport. She served as online editor for DSNews.com from 2008 through 2011. Prior to joining DS News and the Five Star organization, she managed public relations, marketing, and media relations initiatives for several B2B companies in the financial services, technology, and telecommunications industries. She also wrote for retail and nonprofit organizations upon graduating from Texas A&M University with degrees in journalism and English.
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