Mortgage rates maintained their recent slide and have now declined in five of the past six weeks, according to Freddie Mac.
| 30-Year FRM | 15-Year FRM | 5/1-Year ARM | |
| Average Rates | 4.52% | 3.99% | 3.74% |
| Fees & Points | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
| Margin | N/A | N/A | 2.77 |
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.52% for the week ending July 5,
Yields on the 10-year Treasury note, which is used in pricing 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, continue to slide. The yield opened on July 5 at 2.843%, a 27-basis-point drop from a high of 3.113% on May 15.
"The run-up in mortgage rates earlier this year represented not just a rise in risk-free borrowing costs, but for investors, the mortgage spread also rose back to more normal levels by about 20 basis points. What that means for buyers is good news. Mortgage rates may have a little more room to decline over the very short term," Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater said in a press release.
"Although the current economic expansion is in its 10th year, residential single-family real estate was initially slow to recover. Now, backed by the demographic tailwind provided by millennials reaching the peak age to buy their first home, the housing market should have some room to grow going forward," Khater said.
The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage this week averaged 3.99%, down from last week when it averaged 4.04%. A year ago at this time, the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.22%.
The five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 3.74% this week with an average 0.3 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.87%. A year ago at this time, the five-year adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 3.21%.
