Freddie Mac: Fixed-rate mortgages fall in latest survey
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. fixed-rate mortgages declined in the latest week, according to Freddie Mac’s survey released Thursday. The national average interest rate on the benchmark 30-year, fixed-rate loan averaged 5.94% in the week ending Thursday, down from last week’s 6.10% and the year-ago 6.40%. The 15-year fixed-rate loan averaged 5.63%, down from the week-ago 5.78% and the year-ago 6.06%. The five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 5.90%, compared with 6.00% a week ago and 6.12% a year ago. One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 5.15% this week, up from last week’s 5.12%, but lower than the year-ago 5.73%. “Longer-term mortgage rates fell for the first time in three weeks, roughly following bond market yields,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. “Meanwhile, the latest housing market data showed some pickup in home purchase activity in August.”
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