For the first time in three weeks, fixed mortgages rate moved up from their all-time lows, Freddie Mac reports in its weekly mortgage market survey.

One of the factors leading to higher fixed mortgage rates this week was signs of a gradually improving housing market, Freddie Mac Chief Economist Frank Nothaft says. For example, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported this week that seriously delinquent loans — those 90 days or more past due — and the inventory of foreclosures dropped 5.3 percent by the end of 2011, marking the lowest quarterly share since the beginning of 2009. Also, the National Association of REALTORS® reported this week that existing-home sales in January were at their strongest pace since May 2010.

Here’s a closer look at how rates fared for the week ending Feb. 23:

30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.95 percent, with an average 0.8 point, up slightly from last week’s all-time low of 3.87 percent. A year ago, 30-year rates averaged 4.95 percent.

15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.19 percent, with an average 0.8 point, inching up from last week’s 3.16 percent average. Last year, 15-year rates averaged 4.22 percent at this time.

5-year adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 2.80 percent this week, with an average 0.7 point, dropping from last week’s 2.82 percent average. Last year, 5-year ARMs averaged 3.80 percent at this time.

1-year ARMs: averaged 2.73 percent, with an average 0.6 point, also dropping from last week’s 2.84 percent average. A year ago at this time, 1-year ARMs averaged 3.40 percent.

Fixed-mortgage rates continue to hover at record lows, with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage staying at the record low of 3.87 percent since the first week of February, Freddie Mac reports in its weekly mortgage market survey. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, the most popular choice among home buyers, has been below 4 percent for the past 11 weeks.

Here’s a closer look at mortgages rates for the week ending Feb. 16:

30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.87 percent, with an average 0.8 point, matching last week’s average. A year ago at this time, 30-year rates averaged 5 percent.

15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.16 percent, with an average 0.8 point, also matching last week’s average. Last year at this time, 15-year rates averaged 4.27 percent.

5-year adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 2.82 percent this week, with an average 0.8 point, dropping slightly from last week’s 2.83 percent average. Last year, 5-year ARMs averaged 3.87 percent.

1-year ARMs: averaged 2.84 percent, with an average 0.6 point, rising from last week’s 2.78 percent average. A year ago at this time, 1-year ARMs averaged 3.39 percent.

Mortgage rates once again inched lower this week, lowering the cost of borrowing and increasing housing affordability.

“Most mortgage rates eased to all-time record lows this week as fourth quarter growth in the economy fell short of market projections,” Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said in a statement.

Here’s a closer look at rates for the week ending Feb. 2:

30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged a new record low of 3.87 percent, with an average 0.8 point, dropping from last week’s 3.98 percent average. A year ago at this time, 30-year rates averaged 4.81 percent.
15-year fixed-rate mortgages: also reached new lows this week, averaging 3.14 percent, with an average 0.8 point. Last week, 15-year rates averaged 3.24 percent and a year ago at this time 15-year rates averaged 4.08 percent.
5-year adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 2.80 percent, with an average 0.7 point, dropping from last week’s 2.85 percent average. Last year at this time, 5-year ARMs averaged 3.69 percent.
1-year ARMs: averaged 2.76 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, inching up slightly from last week’s 2.74 percent average. A year ago, 1-year ARMs saveraged 3.26 percent.

Source: Freddie Mac

For nine consecutive weeks, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has been hovering at or below record lows of 4 percent, pushing housing affordability for home buyers even higher.

But will these low rates stick around much longer?

The Federal Reserve has vowed to keep rates low through 2013 so rates likely will hang around for a few more months, at least, but whether mortgage rates will stay at the current record-lows, many experts say it’s unlikely.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is expected to inch up to an average 4.5 percent for 2012 and increase to 5.4 percent in 2013, according to Freddie Mac economists’ forecasts.

While that forecast means rates are expected to move higher in the coming months, the rates will still be low by historical standards, economists told the Los Angeles Times. For comparison, 30-year rates averaged more than 16 percent in 1981 and 1982. What’s more, until 2000, rates typically were above 8 percent, Freddie Mac notes.

Despite the drop in rates, however, many home buyers have been unable to take advantage of the low rates. Lenders’ tightening of their underwriting standards for loans in the recent years following the housing crisis has shut some buyers who have poor credit, low down payments, or unsteady employment from securing a loan at today’s low rates. Freddie Mac had predicted home-purchase applications to comprise two-thirds of all mortgage applications by the end of 2011. But the Mortgage Bankers Associations says that instead about 80 percent of the mortgage applications came from home owners who wanted to refinance.

Source: “Low Mortgage Rates Likely to Continue Through 2012, Experts Say,” Los Angeles Times (Jan. 3, 2012)

Just in time for the holidays: Mortgage rates reached new all-time lows this week, pushing home buyer affordability even higher, Freddie Mac reports in its weekly mortgage market survey.

“Rates on 30-year fixed mortgages have been at or below 4 percent for the last eight weeks and now are almost 0.9 percentage points below where they were at the beginning of the year, which means that today’s home buyers are paying over $1,200 less per year on a $200,000 loan,” Frank Nothaft, chief economist at Freddie Mac, said in a statement. “This greater affordability helped push existing home sales higher for the second consecutive month in November to an annualized pace of 4.42 million, the most since January.”

Here’s a closer look at mortgage rates for the week ending Dec. 22:

30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.91 percent this week, with an average 0.7 point, beating last week’s 3.94 percent record. A year ago at this time, 30-year rates averaged 4.81 percent.
15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.21 percent, with an average 0.8 point, matching last week’s all-time low. Last year at this time, the 15-year mortgage averaged 4.15 percent.
5-year adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 2.85 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, a new record after dropping from last week’s 2.86 percent average. Last year at this time, 5-year ARMs averaged 3.75 percent.
1-year ARMs: averaged 2.77 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, also a new record after falling from last week’s 2.81 percent average. A year ago at this time, the 1-year ARMs averaged 3.40 percent.

Source: Freddie Mac

Where are rates heading? You may soon get more insight with a new proposal the Federal Reserve is weighing.

The Federal Reserve doesn’t traditionally make a point to reveal its predictions for future actions on interest rates widely known to the public — that is, until recently. This summer in a rare step, the Fed announced that it would keep short-term interest rates at nearly zero until 2013. The Fed may start making it a tradition to reveal more with a regular forecast of its future decisions on interest rates.

The Fed may consider adopting such a move at its Tuesday meeting, but if it does adopt an action, it most likely wouldn’t be announced to the public until January, The New York Times reports.

According to a recent article, the minutes of the Federal Reserve committee’s last meeting in November revealed that “participants generally expressed interest in providing additional information to the public about the likely future path of the target federal funds rate.”

In 2007, the Fed weighed a similar move but decided against it because they feared that public would take the predictions as commitments, and the Fed wanted to be able to change course if needed without public misunderstanding.

If the Fed adopted a forecast, it likely would predict where interest rates are heading for the next three years, and it would be similar to the forecasts it already publishes about economic growth, unemployment, and inflation four times each year, The New York Times reports.

Source: “Fed to Weigh Publishing a Forecast on Rates,” The New York Times (Dec. 11, 2011)

Averages on fixed-mortgage rates continued to hover near historic lows for the week, while adjustable-rate mortgages inched down slightly to reach new record lows, Freddie Mac reports in its weekly mortgage market survey.

“Mortgage rates were little changed this past week, with the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at or below 4 percent for the fifth consecutive week,” Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said in a statement. “The extraordinarily low mortgage rates of the past month may provide a needed spur to housing activity.”

This week, the National Association of REALTORS® reported a 10.4 percent jump in pending home sales in October, the strongest pace since November 2010.

“More optimistic consumers, lower house prices, and bargain mortgage rates may have contributed to the 10.4 percent jump in pending home sales … and may bode well for future home sales,” Nothaft says.

Here’s a closer look at rates for the week ending Dec. 1:

30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 4 percent, with an average 0.7 point, ticking slightly up from last week’s 3.98 percent average. A year ago at this time, 30-year rates averaged 4.46 percent.
15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.30 percent, with an average 0.8 point, holding at last week’s average. Last year at this time, 15-year rates averaged 3.81 percent.
5-year adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 2.90 percent, with an average 0.6 point, dropping slightly from last week’s 2.91 percent average. Last year at this time, the 5-year ARM averaged 3.49 percent.
1-year ARMs: averaged 2.78 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, dropping from last week’s 2.79 percent average. A year ago at this time, the 1-year ARM averaged 3.25 percent.

Source: Freddie Mac

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, the most popular choice among home buyers, dropped to its second lowest reading on record this week, Freddie Mac reports in its weekly mortgage market survey.

“Market concerns over the European debt market drew investors to U.S. Treasury securities, lowering bond yields and mortgage rates,” says Frank Nothaft, chief economist at Freddie Mac.

Here are how rates fared for the week:

30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 4 percent, with an average 0.7 point, down from last week’s 4.10 percent average. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is the second lowest on record, just behind the 3.94 percent record reached on Oct. 6. A year ago at this time, 30-year rates averaged 4.24 percent.
15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.31 percent, with an average 0.7 point, falling from last week’s 3.38 percent average. Last year at this time, 15-year mortgages averaged 3.63 percent.
5-year adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 2.96 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, dropping from last week’s 3.08 percent. At this time last year, 5-year ARMs averaged 3.39 percent.
1-year ARMs: averaged 2.88 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, dropping from last week’s 2.90 percent average. A year ago at this time, the 1-year ARM averaged 3.26 percent.

Source: Freddie Mac

For the second straight week, fixed-rate mortgages continued to mostly hover near 60-year lows, Freddie Mac reports in its weekly mortgage market survey.

“Fixed mortgage rates followed other long-term interest rates and showed little change, on average, from the prior week,” Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said in a statement. “The latest monthly housing market indicators were mixed, with consumer confidence soft, house prices largely flat, and new home sales up from very low levels.”

Here’s a closer look at mortgage rates for the week ending Oct. 27:

* 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 4.10 percent, with an average 0.8 point, which is down from last week’s 4.11 percent average. A year ago at this time, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.23 percent.
* 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.38 percent, with an average 0.7 point, which is the same average as last week. Last year at this time, 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.66 percent.
* 5-year adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 3.08 percent this week, with an average 0.5 point, slightly up from last week’s 3.01 percent average. Last year at this time, 5-year ARMs averaged 3.41 percent.
* 1-year ARMs: averaged 2.90 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, which is down from last week’s 2.94 percent average. A year ago, 1-year ARMs averaged 3.30 percent.

Source: Freddie Mac

After posting record lows the last few weeks, mortgage rates inched higher this week, Freddie Mac reports in its weekly mortgage market survey. Yet, rates still remain near 60-year lows.

“An employment report that was better than market expectations helped to lift long-term Treasury bond yields and mortgage rates as well,” Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, notes. In September, the economy added 103,000 workers; however, the unemployment rate still remained high at 9.1 percent.

Here’s a closer look at rates for the week ending Oct. 13.

* 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 4.12 percent, with an average 0.8 point, moving up from last week’s record-hitting 3.94 percent average. A year ago at this time, 30-year rates averaged 4.19 percent.
* 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.37 percent with an average 0.8 point–that’s up slightly from last week’s low of 3.26 percent average. Last year at this time, 15-year rates averaged 3.62 percent.
* 5-year adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 3.06 percent, with an average 0.6 point, and inching up from last week’s 2.96 percent. Last year at this time, the 5-year ARM averaged 3.47 percent.
* 1-year ARMs: averaged 2.90 percent with an average 0.6 point, a drop from last week’s 2.95 average. A year ago, 1-year ARMs averaged 3.43 percent.

Source: Freddie Mac