MortgageOrb: Freddie Mac: Fixed Mortgage Rates Inched Down Slightly

Mortgage rates declined for the week on mixed economic data, Freddie Mac reported on Thursday.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) was 4.04%, down from 4.09% the previous week.

Hybrid adjustable rate mortgages rose. The housing market has rebounded by 34 percent since hitting that all-time low almost five years ago.

“This drove the 30-year fixed rate mortgage down 5 basis points to 4.04 percent this week”.

According to Freddie’s report, the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage this week averaged 3.21% with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.25%.

With mortgage rates at low levels and the economic recovery in its sixth year, home-buying has recently surged as more buyers have flooded into the real estate market.

“Existing home sales beat market expectations coming in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.49 million homes”, Beckettii added. The five-year ARM average scooted up to 2.97 percent with an average 0.5 point.

A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 2.99%.

“This is up 9.6% from a year ago and the fastest pace since 2007”, he continued.

The 79.2 value for the latest MiMi, which was released Wednesday, indicated a weak overall housing market but improved by 0.71 percentage points from April to May and by more than 2 percentage points over the three-month period from the beginning of March to the end of May. “Also, housing starts jumped 9.8% responding to strong demand in the multifamily market”. (+1.87 percent), Seattle, Wash.

The refinance share of mortgage activity accounted for 50.3 percent of all applications.

The MBA also revised its mortgage finance forecast this week, predicting that purchase originations will climb to $801 billion in 2015 and $885 billion in 2016. “Likewise, it’s becoming clearer every month that after several years of local trends largely reflecting national trends, we are getting back to more normal times where local housing markets develop based on their own unique economies”.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates fell this week, retreating from highs for the year and amplifying the incentive for prospective home buyers.