Mortgage rates fell again in the week that ended Thursday, remaining at three-month lows, with the average 30-year fixed rate retreating closer to 5%, according to Freddie Mac's weekly survey.
After yields on Treasuries rebounded from the multidecade lows they hit earlier this year, they have since retreated a bit — taking mortgage rates along with them.
Freddie's chief economist, Frank Nothaft, said the survey results, which showed the third consecutive week of declines in fixed mortgage rates, suggest 2009 may post a record low for the survey, which began in 1971.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.04% for the week that ended Thursday, down from last week's 5.07% average and 5.78% a year ago. Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages were 4.47%, down from 4.5% and 5.35%.
Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 4.51%, flat with last week's 4.51% but down from 5.67% a year earlier. One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs were 4.58%, down from 4.64% and 5.03%.
To obtain the rates, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage required payment of an average 0.7 point, while the 15-year fixed required 0.6 point. The adjustable-rate mortgages required an average 0.5 point. A point is 1% of the mortgage amount, charged as prepaid interest.
