NEW YORK, NY - The benchmark conforming 30-year fixed mortgage rate inched higher from 4.23 percent to 4.25 percent, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. The average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.35 discount and origination points.
The average 15-year fixed mortgage ticked up to 3.50 percent while the larger jumbo 30-year fixed rate slid further, resetting a record low of 4.76 percent. Adjustable rate mortgages were mixed, with the average 3-year ARM climbing to 3.47 percent and the 5-year ARM sliding to 3.16 percent.
Mortgage rates moved slightly this week, as mortgage rates continue to see-saw up and down as worries over European debt issues take turns intensifying – then easing – each day. Any time worries intensify it is good news for mortgage shoppers as global investors flock to safe haven U.S. Treasury securities, pushing bond yields lower. Mortgage rates are closely related to the yields on long-term government bonds. With the likelihood of an imminent U.S. recession dismissed, Europe will continue to be the focus of financial markets and be the key driver of mortgage rates in the weeks ahead.
The last time mortgage rates were above 6 percent was Nov. 2008. At the time, the average 30-year fixed rate was 6.33 percent, meaning a $200,000 loan would have carried a monthly payment of $1,241.86. With the average rate now 4.25 percent, the monthly payment for the same size loan would be $983.88, a difference of $258 per month for anyone refinancing now.
Bankrate's national weekly mortgage survey is conducted each Wednesday from data provided by the top 10 banks and thrifts in the top 10 markets.
The survey is complemented by Bankrate's weekly Rate Trend Index, in which a panel of mortgage experts predicts which way the rates are headed over the next seven days. There is no clear consensus this week, with 43 percent of the panelists expecting mortgage rates to remain more or less unchanged. A bit more than one-third, 36 percent, forecast a decline while 21 percent expect mortgage rates to rise over the next week.
For the full mortgage Rate Trend Index, go to: www.bankrate.com
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