Interest rates on the most popular types of mortgages edged lower this week according to HSH.com's Weekly Mortgage Rates Radar. The average rate for conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell by three basis points (0.03 percent) to 4.20 percent. Conforming 5/1 Hybrid ARM rates decreased by five basis points, closing the Wednesday-to-Tuesday wraparound weekly survey at an average of 3.13 percent.
"Mortgage rates continue to wander aimlessly, as they have now for more than two months," said Keith Gumbinger, vice president of HSH.com. "At times, good economic news has lifted them a bit, only to see them pulled back down by global political and economic concerns."
In the past 10 weeks, the average rate for conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgages has been no higher than 4.27 percent, and no lower than 4.16 percent, a remarkably stable pattern. Many forecasts called for mortgage rates to be on a mild upward path by this time of the year, but they remain well below 2014 highs after a steady downward trend brought them to present levels. At some point, interest rates will begin to rise on a regular basis, but this depends upon the economy's performance.
"Fed Chair Janet Yellen's testimony should have set off at least some alarms about the path for interest rates," said Gumbinger. "In her testimony before Congress, she took pains to note that if the labor market continues to improve more quickly than the Fed presently expects, they would be likely to lift short-term rates sooner and more rapidly than markets currently expect. For now, markets took this message in stride, but the warning is as clear as it can be: If things are getting better quickly, higher rates will follow closely behind."
Average mortgage rates and points for conforming residential mortgages for the week ending July 15, according to HSH.com:
Conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgage
►Average rate: 4.20 percent
►Average points: 0.17
Conforming 5/1-year adjustable-rate mortgage
►Average rate: 3.13 percent
►Average points: 0.07
Average mortgage rates and points for conforming residential mortgages for the previous week ending July 08 were, according to HSH.com:
Conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgage
►Average rate: 4.23 percent
►Average points: 0.20
Conforming 5/1-year adjustable-rate mortgage
►Average rate: 3.18 percent
►Average points: 0.10
