NEW YORK, Jan. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — The average conforming 30-year fixed mortgage decreased this week to 5.23 percent, according to Bankrate.com’s weekly national survey. The average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.47 discount and origination points.
View mortgage rates in your area.
The average 15-year fixed mortgage fell to 4.62 percent while the larger jumbo 30-year fixed rate retreated to 5.97 percent. Adjustable rate mortgages were lower as well, with the average 3-year ARM sinking to 4.71 percent and the 5-year ARM dropping to 4.68 percent.
Mortgage rates declined for the second week in a row. A disappointing December jobs report helped bring investors back into the safety of bonds, to which mortgage rates are closely related, pulling mortgage rates lower. The average 30-year fixed rate is at the lowest level in the past month. A wider than normal spread between 30-year and 15-year mortgage rates makes the shorter loan appealing to homeowners capable of swinging the higher payments.
The last time mortgage rates were above 6 percent was Nov. 2008. At that time, the average 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 5.23 percent, the monthly payment for the same size loan would be $1,101.93, a savings of $140 per month for a homeowner refinancing now.
SURVEY RESULTS
30-year fixed: 5.23% — down from 5.26% last week (avg. points: 0.47)
15-year fixed: 4.62% — down from 4.67% last week (avg. points: 0.42)
5/1 ARM: 4.68% — down from 4.74% last week (avg. points: 0.36)
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.
View a full analysis of this week’s move in mortgage rates.
The survey is complemented by Bankrate’s weekly forward-looking Rate Trend Index, in which a panel of mortgage experts predicts which way the rates are headed over the next 30 to 45 days. Mortgage rates don’t appear to be headed much of anywhere, with 46 percent of respondents expecting mortgage rates to remain more or less unchanged in the next 30 to 45 days. A bit more than one-third of the panelists, 36 percent, predict rates will rise and just 18 percent forecast further declines in rates during that period of time.
View the full mortgage Rate Trend Index.