Mortgage Rates Take a Dip

Feb 16, 2017

Average mortgage rates experienced a slight downward movement, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for the week ending Feb. 16.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.15 percent, down from last week when it averaged 4.17 percent. The 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.35 percent, down from last week when it averaged 3.39 percent. And the five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate (ARM) mortgage averaged 3.18 percent this week, down from last week when it averaged 3.21 percent.

“For the last 46 years, the 30-year mortgage rate has been almost perfectly correlated with the yield on the 10-year Treasury, but not this year,” said Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sean Becketti. “From Dec. 29, 2016, through today, the 30-year mortgage rate fell 17 basis points to this week's reading of 4.15 percent. In contrast, the 10-year Treasury yield began and ended the same period at 2.49 percent. While we expect mortgage rates to fall into line with Treasury yields shortly, this just may be a year full of surprises.”

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Phil Hall

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Feb 16, 2017

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