Ho hum. Bankrate, Freddie Mac say mortgage rates fall again
By Palm Beach Business.com
DELRAY BEACH — Perhaps mortgage rates have hit bottom, having set yet another record low in the Bankrate survey and hovering near another in Freddie Mac’s survey.
And locally, rates also hit a low, according to Palm Beach Business.com’s South Florida Mortgage Survey.
The average 30-year fixed rate mortgage this week dropped to 4.88 percent, with 0.50 point, from 4.95 percent a week ago, according to Bankrate.com’s national mortgage survey. The rate is a record low for the Bankrate survey.
That translates to a monthly payment of $1,059.02 on a $200,000 loan.
Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey put the 30-year at 4.72 percent with an average 0.7 point, down from last week’s 4.79 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.59 percent.
Locally, the 30-year averaged 4.757 percent, with 0.8 point, according to Palm Beach Business.com’s South Florida Mortgage Survey. The survey includes eight major banks that serve Palm Beach and Broward counties.
"Following a relatively weak employment report, bond yields fell this week and mortgage rates followed," Freddie Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft said. "Private payrolls rose by 41,000 jobs in May, less than a quarter of the market forecast consensus of an 180,000 gain. Interest rates on 30-year fixed mortgage hover near the record low set on December 3, 2009 in our survey; the Primary Mortgage Market Survey began in April 1971. Meanwhile, rates on 15-year fixed mortgages set another record low for the fourth week in a row.”
Bankrate's panel of mortgage experts sees rates most likely staying right where they are. Fifty-six percent of the panelists predict mortgage rates will remain relatively unchanged over the next week or so, while 44 percent think rates will rise; no one sees rates falling.
Other findings from the surveys:
Freddie Mac said the 15-year averaged 4.17 percent with an average 0.7 point, down from last week’s 4.20 percent. That’s a record low. The five-year ARM averaged 3.92 percent with 0.7 point, down from 3.94 percent a week earlier.
In the Bankrate survey, the 15-year fixed mortgage dropped slightly to 4.33 percent while the 5-year ARM dropped to 4.16 percent.
Surveyed banks: PNC, Bankatlantic, Bank of America, Chase, Citibank, TD Bank, Wachovia, Suntrust.
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