Reported 0.03 Percent Monthly Rise in April Interest Rates

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has reported that the National Average Contract Mortgage Rate for the Purchase of Previously Occupied Homes by Combined Lenders, used as an index in some adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) contracts, was 3.93 percent based on loans closed in April. Beginning in March, FHFA is calculating interest rates using unweighted survey data. There was an increase of 0.03 percent from the previous month. The average interest rate on conventional, 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages (FRMs) of $417,000 or less increased nine basis points to 4.21 in April. These rates are calculated from the FHFA’s Monthly Interest Rate Survey of purchase-money mortgages. These results reflect loans closed during the April 24-30 period. Typically, the interest rate is determined 30-45 days before the loan is closed. Thus, the reported rates depict market conditions prevailing in mid- to late-March. The contract rate on the composite of all mortgage loans (fixed- and ARM) was 3.93 percent in April, up four basis points from 3.89 percent in March. The effective interest rate, which reflects the amortization of initial fees and charges, was 4.03 percent in April, up 10 basis points from 3.93 percent in March. This report contains no data on ARMs due to insufficient sample size. Initial fees and charges were 0.90 percent of the loan balance in April, down three basis points from March. Twenty-one percent of the purchase-money mortgage loans originated in April were "no-point" mortgages, up one percent from the share in March. The average term was 27.3 years in April, matching the term in March. The average loan-to-price ratio in April was 75.3 percent, up 0.5 percent from 74.8 percent in March. The average loan amount was $256,200 in April, up $9,100 from $247,100 in March.