NEW YORK, NY - Mortgage rates were mixed, showing little in the way of movement this week. The benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rate slipped to 4.28 percent, according to Bankrate.com's (NYSE: RATE) weekly national survey. The average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.3 discount and origination points.
The average 15-year fixed mortgage rate nosed higher to 3.41 percent, while the larger jumbo 30-year fixed mortgage rate retreated to 4.34 percent. Adjustable rate mortgages were mixed as well, with the 3-year ARM inching lower to 3.21 percent and the 5-year ARM rising to 3.37 percent.
Mortgage rates have entered the summer doldrums, showing very little movement one way or another. The benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rates has fluctuated within a very narrow range – one-tenth of a percentage point – since mid-May as investors come to grips with the idea the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates steady into 2015. Despite the Fed's ongoing tapering of their bond purchases, continued improvement in the job market, and signs of a rebound in economic growth after a dismal first quarter, the flow of money from overseas investors into U.S. government bonds is keeping a lid on bond yields and mortgage rates. Mortgage rates are closely related to yields on long-term government debt.
As 2013 came to a close, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 4.69 percent. At that time, a $200,000 loan would have carried a monthly payment of $1,036.07. Mortgage rates have moved lower thus far in 2014, and with the average rate now 4.28 percent, the monthly payment for the same size loan would be $987.40, a savings of $48 per month for anyone that waited.
SURVEY RESULTS
30-year fixed: 4.28% -- down from 4.30% last week (avg. points: 0.30)
15-year fixed: 3.41% -- up from 3.40% last week (avg. points: 0.16)
5/1 ARM: 3.37% -- up from 3.33% last week (avg. points: 0.18)
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. According to the panelists, rates aren't headed much of anywhere. More than half – 57 percent – expect mortgage rates to remain more or less unchanged over the coming week, while 29 percent predict mortgage rates will fall. Just 14 percent of the respondents predict an increase in mortgage rates over the next seven days.