Freddie Mac has released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS), which saw all but the one-year adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) rise. Thirty-year fixed-mortgage rates (FRM) climbed back to levels seen in May of 2010, at 4.86 percent, up from last week when rates averaged 4.81 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.14 percent.
This week, the 15-year FRM this week averaged 4.20 percent with an average 0.8 point, up from last week when it averaged 4.15 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.54 percent.
“Interest rates on fixed-rate mortgages and the five-year Hybrid ARM rose slightly over the holiday week, but were still below the year’s highs set in the first half of 2010," said Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist, Freddie Mac. For the year as a whole, 30-year fixed mortgage rates averaged just below 4.7 percent, which represented the lowest annual average since 1955 when the average price of a home was $22,000."
The five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.77 percent this week, with an average 0.7 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.75 percent. A year ago, the five-year ARM averaged 4.44 percent. The one-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 3.26 percent this week with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.40 percent. At this time last year, the one-year ARM averaged 4.33
percent.
“Recent news on housing markets has been mixed," said Nothaft. "The S&P/Case-Shiller house price index fell 0.99 percent in October, in line with other reports showing a softening in house prices since mid-year. Home sales continue to recover in the months following the expiration of the Homebuyer Tax Credit, however, with sales of new and existing homes up 5.5 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively, in November.”
For more information, visit www.freddiemac.com.
