The average weekly rate for a 30-year loan slipped slightly below 4% and rates for adjustable-rate mortgages averaged new record lows in Freddie Mac's survey Wednesday.
During the week ending Nov. 23, the average rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage dropped 2 basis points to 3.98% and the average 15-year FRM rate inched down by a basis point to 3.3%.
The average rate for a five-year hybrid Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate mortgage slid 6 bps to 2.91% from the previous week, while the average one-year Treasury ARM rate fell 19 bps to 2.79%.
Points averaged 0.7 of a point for FRMs and 0.6 of a point for ARMs.
A year ago, the 30-year rate was 4.4%, the 15-year rate was 3.77%, the five-year Treasury hybrid rate was 3.45% and the one-year Treasury ARM rate was 3.23%.
Rate-driven improvements in affordability recently contributed to a slight increase in home resales tracked by the National Association of Realtors, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist Frank Nothaft said in a press release.
But consumer interest in response to rates remains somewhat limited because “there are headwinds coming from other economic factors” such as consumer confidence and employment, Nothaft told this publication.
“A lot of people are holding off because they are worried about their economic well-being” and they think interest rates could remain low for awhile, which takes away the impetus to act immediately, he said.
Despite this, “refinancing makes good money sense to a lot of people” and “there is no reason to delay” it as rates are favorable now and future direction is uncertain, Nothaft added.
