Thirty-Year Rate Rises Slightly but Remains Below 5%

Despite a slight increase in mortgage rates during the week, the average rate for the 30-year fixed-rate product that dominates the market remained below 5%, according to Freddie Mac. This makes three consecutive weeks of sub-5% rates, said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's vice president and chief economist. During the week ending Oct. 15, the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage inched up to 4.92% from 4.87% but remained far below where it was a year ago when it was 6.46%. The average 15-year FRM rate also increased slightly week-to-week, edging up to 4.37% from 4.33%, but it was still much lower than a year ago when it was 6.14%. Five-year hybrid Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate mortgages saw their average rate during the week increase a little bit to 4.38% from 4.35% and a year ago, but they also continued to be priced much lower than a year ago when they carried a rate of 6.14% on average. The average rate for one-year Treasury adjustable-rate mortgages climbed to 4.60% from 4.53% but that rate was down from 5.16% a year ago. Average points were as follows: 0.7 for 30- and 15-year FRMs, 0.6 for five-year Treasury hybrids and 0.5 for one-year Treasury ARMs.