News Of Weaker Job Market Pushes Mortgage Rates Lower -Freddie
12 März 2009 - 6:51PM
Dow Jones News
Mortgage rates fell this week following the news of a weaker job
market, which "may slow consumer spending and keep inflation at
bay," Freddie Mac's chief economist Frank Nothaft said on
Thursday.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.03% for the week
ending March 12, down from last week's 5.15% average, according to
Freddie Mac's weekly survey of conforming mortgage rates. The
mortgage averaged 6.13% a year ago.
"The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate remains very close to
January's all time recorded low of 4.96%. Indeed, mortgage rates
have drifted up and down only by about one-quarter of a percent in
the first months of this year," Nothaft said in a news release.
The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.64% this week, down
from last week's 4.72% average. The mortgage averaged 5.60% a year
ago.
Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages
averaged 4.99%, down from last week's 5.08% average. The 5-year ARM
averaged 5.58% a year ago.
One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 4.80%, down from last
week's 4.86% average. The ARM averaged 5.14% a year ago.
To obtain the rates, the fixed-rate mortgages required payment
of an average 0.7 point, the five-year ARM required an average 0.6
point and the 1-year ARM required an average 0.5 point. A point is
1% of the mortgage amount, charged as prepaid interest.
"Given the recent historically low mortgage rates, homeowners
have a strong incentive to try and refinance," Nothaft said. "For
instance, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reports that the
effective mortgage rate for loans outstanding in the fourth quarter
of 2008 was around 6.2%, or almost 1.2 percentage points above this
week's average rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages."
According to results of another survey by the Mortgage Bankers
Association, mortgage application volume rose 11.3% last week.