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Mortgage rates fall again
15-year fixed-rate mortgage at lowest in history of Freddie Mac survey
By Amy Hoak, MarketWatch
Last Update: 10:45 AM ET Nov 19, 2009
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages dropped to their lowest levels since May, Freddie Mac reported on Thursday.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.83% for the week ending Nov. 19, down from last week's 4.91% average, according to Freddie Mac's weekly survey of conforming mortgage rates. The mortgage averaged 6.04% a year ago.
Fifteen-year fixed-rate mortgages also dropped, averaging 4.32% this week, down from 4.36% last week and 5.73% a year ago.
Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 4.25% this week, down from 4.29% last week and 5.87% a year ago. And one-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 4.35%, down from 4.46% last week and 5.29% a year ago.
To obtain the rates, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage required payment of an average 0.7 point, while the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage as well as the ARMs required payment of an average 0.6 point. A point is 1% of the mortgage amount, charged as prepaid interest.
"Interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgage loans fell for the third consecutive week to the lowest since the week ending May 21, while 15-year fixed rates were the lowest since our records began in 1991," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, in a news release.
"Low fixed rates throughout the third quarter prompted an estimated $1.1 trillion in refinancing activity, saving homeowners about $10 billion in aggregate monthly payments over the first 12 months of their new loan. Moreover, for the fourth consecutive quarter, more than 95% of prime borrowers who originally had an ARM selected a conventional fixed-rate mortgage in the third quarter of this year," he said.
The Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday that applications filed for mortgages fell a seasonally adjusted 2.5% for the week ending Nov. 13, compared with the week before. Read results of the MBA applications survey.
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