Mortgage rates remained relatively stable for the week ending Oct. 11, but were up slightly from the all-time lows reached last week, according to new figures compiled by Freddie Mac.
Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist Frank Nothaft attributed the slight upward movement to positive employment figures released last Friday. On average, mortgage bankers were offering 30-year fixed-rate loans at 3.36%, up three basis points from the week prior. The 15-year FRM rate rose one basis point to 2.7%.
The slight upward movements in rates came despite downward pressure caused by the Federal Reserve through its third round of quantitative easing, suggesting the increases might have been higher without it.
While loan applications tracked by the Mortgage Bankers Association
Application numbers and comments from lenders in the past week suggest that while the jump in refinancing has subsided a bit, purchase market prospects are looking better. “Property values have stabilized,” said John Walsh, president of
Shorter-term rates also increased slightly. The average rate for a five-year Treasury hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage rose one basis point to 2.73%. One-year Treasury ARMs were tracked at 2.59%, a two basis point gain.
Average points in the most recent week were as follows: 0.4 of a point for one-year Treasury ARMs, 0.6 of a point for five-year Treasury hybrids and 15-year FRMs, and 0.7 of a point for 30-year FRMs.
A year ago mortgage bankers were offering 30-year FRMs at 4.12% and 15-year loans at 3.37%.
