30-year fixed-rate mortgage at
record low
Housing market showing signs of improvement, economist says
By Amy Hoak, MarketWatch
CHICAGO
(MarketWatch) — Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages matched a record low this
week, after recent reports indicated the housing market and manufacturing
industry are showing improvement, Freddie Mac’s chief economist said on
Thursday.
The mortgage
averaged 3.91% for the week ending Jan. 5, down from 3.95% last week and 4.77%
a year ago, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly survey of conforming mortgage
rates. This is the fifth week in a row that the mortgage has averaged below 4%.
Fifteen-year
fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.23% this week, down from 3.24% last week and
4.13% a year ago.
Five-year
Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 2.86%, down from
2.88% last week and 3.75% a year ago.
But 1-year
Treasury-indexed ARMs rose, averaging 2.8% this week, up from 2.78% last week.
The ARM averaged 3.24% a year ago.
To obtain the
rates, the fixed-rate mortgages required an average 0.8 point, the 5-year ARM
required an average 0.7 point and the 1-year ARM required an average 0.6 point.
A point is 1% of the mortgage amount, charged as prepaid interest.
“Fixed mortgage
rates started the year a little lower this week just as recent data reports
indicate the housing market and manufacturing industry are showing signs of
improvement,” said Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist of Freddie
Mac, in a news release.
Pending
existing home sales rose 7.3% in November, while construction spending rose
1.2% in November. “Similarly,
manufacturing expanded in December at the fastest pace in six months,” Nothaft
said.
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