Freddie Survey Shows Rates Down and They May Stay That Way

The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped during the week ending July 9 to 5.20% from 5.32% the previous week, according to the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield also has dropped notably in the past day or so and at noon was at levels near 3.4%, suggesting that rates may continue to decline. Bankrate's latest Rate Trend Index survey indicated the largest percentage of respondents — 44% — anticipate mortgage rates will remain relatively stable for the next 30-45 days while 37% believe they will fall. The remaining 19% of survey respondents expect rates to rise. Freddie Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft and other experts cite renewed signs of economic weakness as the catalyst for the latest weekly drop in mortgage rates. Rates remain below where they were a year ago. The average 30-year FRM rate was 6.37% at that time, according to Freddie Mac. During the latest week, the average 15-year FRM rate slid to 4.69% from 4.77% the previous week and 5.91% a year ago; the average rate for a five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage was 4.82%, down from 4.88% the previous week and 5.82% a year ago; and the average one-year Treasury ARM rate was also 4.82%, down from 4.94% the previous week and 5.17% a year ago. Average points were 0.7 for FRMs and 0.6 for ARMs.