Mortgage Rates Rise for the First Time in Eight Weeks

30-year Fixed Rate Mortgages averaged 4.39 percent with an average 0.9 point for the week ending November 18, 2010, up from last week when it averaged 4.17 percent.

Palm Coast, FL – November 19, 2010 – Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) yesterday released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), which found that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) and the 15-year (FRM) rose dramatically this week, as did the 5-year ARM.  The 1-year ARM remained unchanged from the previous week.
News Facts
  • 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.39 percent with an average 0.9 point for the week ending November 18, 2010, up from last week when it averaged 4.17 percent.  Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.83 percent. 
  • 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.76 percent with an average 0.7 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.57 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.32 percent.
  • 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.40 percent this week, with an average 0.7 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.25 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 4.25 percent.
  • 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 3.26 percent this week with an average 0.6 point, unchanged from last week when it also averaged 3.26 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 4.35 percent.

Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total cost of obtaining the mortgage.

Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist, Freddie Mac stated, "Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages were up to the highest level since early August and rates on shorter-maturity loans rose as well, although by somewhat lesser amounts. Retail sales rose by nearly twice the consensus in October and represented the strongest gain since March.  Moreover, consumer sentiment, as measured by the University of Michigan, ticked up in November to the highest level since June."
"The housing market is showing some potential gains as well. Although new construction on one-family homes dipped 1.1 percent in October, homebuilder confidence rose in November to the strongest level since June, according to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index . In addition, median house prices showed positive annual growth in 77 out of 155 metropolitan areas in the third quarter of this year, with 11 exhibiting double-digit increases, according the National Association of Realtors ®; only 30 cities experienced positive annual gains in the third quarter of 2009."
Freddie Mac was established by Congress in 1970 to provide liquidity, stability and affordability to the nation’s residential mortgage markets. Freddie Mac supports communities across the nation by providing mortgage capital to lenders. Over the years, Freddie Mac has made a home possible for one in six homebuyers and more than five million renters.
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