NEW YORK, NY - Mortgage rates pulled back this week, with the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rate retreating to 4.46 percent, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. The average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.31 discount and origination points.
The average 15-year fixed mortgage was down to 3.48 percent and the larger jumbo 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 4.46 percent. Adjustable rate mortgages were also lower this week, with the popular 5-year adjustable dipping to 3.26 percent and the 7-year ARM slipping to 3.54 percent.
Mortgage rates pulled back slightly in the lead up to the Federal Reserve meeting, with the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rate unwinding most of last week's increase. Adjustable rate mortgages were also lower, reversing course from one week ago. The mostly static nature of mortgage rates in recent weeks owes to not much new regarding the economy and the lead-up to Janet Yellen's first FOMC meeting as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. With the Fed maintaining the taper and pledging to hold short-term interest rates at record lows, there were no bombshells in Yellen's initial meeting at the helm of the Fed. While investors are reading into a slightly earlier timetable for Fed rate hikes, Yellen assured observers the Fed had not changed their policy.
On May 1, 2013, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 3.52 percent. At that time, a $200,000 loan would have carried a monthly payment of $900.32. With the average rate currently at 4.46 percent, the monthly payment for the same size loan would be $1,008.62, a difference of $108 per month for anyone that waited too long.
SURVEY RESULTS
30-year fixed: 4.46% -- down from 4.50% last week (avg. points: 0.31)
15-year fixed: 3.48% -- down from 3.51% last week (avg. points: 0.22)
5/1 ARM: 3.26% -- down from 3.30% last week (avg. points: 0.22)
Bankrate's national weekly mortgage survey is conducted each Wednesday from data provided by the top 10 banks and thrifts in the top 10 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. Just 20 percent of the experts predict that mortgage rates will fall in the coming week. The remaining panelists are split, with 40 percent expecting mortgage rates to rise, and 40 percent predicting that mortgage rates will remain more or less unchanged over the next week.
Source: BankRate.com / #Housing #Economy