Freddie Mac’s survey for the week ending Dec. 30 shows most rates were higher on a net basis during the volatile period, but the popular 30-year is still likely to end 2010 below the year’s highs.
The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 4.86% according to Freddie Mac, up from 4.81% the previous week. However, the long-term rate-indicative 10-year Treasury yield—after hitting a high near 3.5% on Wednesday—was drifting lower, closer to 3.4%, at press time mid-morning Thursday.
In addition, the most recent average 30-year rate in Freddie’s survey is lower than a year ago when it was 5.14%.
For the year as a whole, 30-year rates averaged just below 4.7% and have been the lowest seen since 1955 when the average price of a home was just $22,000, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist Frank Nothaft said in his weekly rate report.
The average 15-year FRM rate in the most recent week was 4.2%, up from 4.15% a week ago but down from 4.54% a year ago. The average rate for a five-year Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate mortgage during the week ending Dec. 30 was 3.77%, up slightly from 3.75% the previous week but down from 4.44% a year ago.
In contrast to other rates tracked by the Freddie survey, the average rate for a one-year Treasury ARM dropped during the most recent week, falling to 3.26% from 3.4% a week ago. It was also down from 4.33% a year ago and, in the most recent week, had the lowest average points for a loan type in the survey at 0.6.
Average points for 30- and 15-year FRMs during the week ending Dec. 30 were 0.8 and for five-year Treasury hybrids they were 0.7.
