WASHINGTON – Mortgage rates dipped even lower from record depths this week, as the spring home-buying season beckons.
The average for the 30-year, fixed-rate loan slipped to a new low of 3.88% this week, from 3.90% last week; while the average for the 15-year mortgage fell to 3.13%, from 3.17%, according to Freddie Mac.
Rates on the 30-year loan have been below 4% for three months.
ARM rates were mixed, with the average for the five-year ARM dipping to 2.81%, from 2.83% last week; and the average for the one-year ARM inching up to 2.73%, from 2.72%.
Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said a typical U.S. family now has more than double the income needed to purchase a median-priced home. It is the first time that has happened since records on home affordability were first kept in the 1970s.
