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 3.36 percent based on loans closed in November. There was a decrease of 0.08 from the previous month. With data for February 2012, FHFA began calculating interest rates using un-weighted survey data.
The average interest rate on conventional, 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) loans of $417,000 or less decreased four basis points to 3.54 in November. These rates are calculated from the FHFA’s Monthly Interest Rate Survey of purchase-money mortgages. These results reflect loans closed during the period of Nov. 26-30. Typically, the interest rate is determined 30 to 45 days before the loan is closed. Thus, the reported rates depict market conditions prevailing in mid- to late-October.
The contract rate on the composite of all mortgage loans (fixed- and adjustable-rate) was 3.36 percent in November, down eight basis points from 3.44 percent in October. The effective interest rate, which reflects the amortization of initial fees and charges, was 3.49 percent in November, down eight basis points from 3.57 percent in October. This report contains no data on adjustable-rate mortgages due to insufficient sample size.
Initial fees and charges were 1.08 percent of the loan balance in November, up three basis points from October. Sixteen percent of the purchase-money mortgage loans originated in November were “no-point” mortgages, down from 21 percent from the share in October. The average term was 27.4 years in November, down 0.1 years from October. The average loan-to-price ratio in November was 75.7 percent, down 0.1 percent from 75.8 percent in October. The average loan amount was $272,300 in November up $14,900 from $257,400 in October.
