NEW YORK, NY - Fixed mortgage rates were unchanged this week, with the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rate remaining at 3.79 percent, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. The 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.2 discount and origination points.
The average 15-year fixed mortgage also held steady, at 3.03 percent, while the larger jumbo 30-year fixed mortgage reversed last week's move and settled at 3.92 percent. Adjustable rate mortgages were slightly higher, with the 5-year ARM inching upward to 3.09 percent and the 7-year ARM now at 3.29 percent.
Mortgage rates remained at a 23-month low on a slow week for economic data, and mixed economic data at that. With the 10-year Treasury yield approaching the 2 percent mark, mortgage rates may move a touch higher ahead of next week's Federal Open Market Committee meeting. But any confirmation of a slow economic start to 2015 or any delay in the Fed's timetable for interest rate hikes would most likely bring bond yields and mortgage rates back down. Mortgage rates are closely related to yields on long-term government bonds.
One year ago, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 4.48 percent. At that time, a $200,000 loan would have carried a monthly payment of $1,011.00. With the average rate now at 3.79 percent, the monthly payment for the same size loan would be $930.78, a savings of $80 per month for anyone refinancing now.
SURVEY RESULTS
30-year fixed: 3.79% -- unchanged from last week (avg. points: 0.20)
15-year fixed: 3.03% -- unchanged from last week (avg. points: 0.18)
5/1 ARM: 3.09% -- up from 3.08% last week (avg. points: 0.19)
Bankrate's national weekly mortgage survey is conducted each Wednesday from data provided by the top 10 banks and thrifts in 10 top markets.
For a full analysis of this week's move in mortgage rates, go to www.bankrate.com
The survey is complemented by Bankrate's weekly Rate Trend Index, in which a panel of mortgage experts predicts which way the rates are headed over the next seven days. This week a slight majority of panelists, 55 percent, expect mortgage rates to remain more or less unchanged in the coming week. A bit more than one-third, 36 percent, forecast an increase and just 9 percent predict that mortgage rates will decline over the coming week.