Evansville, Newburgh IN Real Estate Blog

Real Estate Blog

Monday, January 02 2012

Just in time for the holidays: Mortgage rates reached new all-time lows this week, pushing home buyer affordability even higher, Freddie Mac reports in its weekly mortgage market survey.

"Rates on 30-year fixed mortgages have been at or below 4 percent for the last eight weeks and now are almost 0.9 percentage points below where they were at the beginning of the year, which means that today's home buyers are paying over $1,200 less per year on a $200,000 loan,” Frank Nothaft, chief economist at Freddie Mac, said in a statement. “This greater affordability helped push existing home sales higher for the second consecutive month in November to an annualized pace of 4.42 million, the most since January.”

Here’s a closer look at mortgage rates for the week ending Dec. 22:

30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.91 percent this week, with an average 0.7 point, beating last week’s 3.94 percent record. A year ago at this time, 30-year rates averaged 4.81 percent.
15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.21 percent, with an average 0.8 point, matching last week’s all-time low. Last year at this time, the 15-year mortgage averaged 4.15 percent.
5-year adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 2.85 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, a new record after dropping from last week’s 2.86 percent average. Last year at this time, 5-year ARMs averaged 3.75 percent.
1-year ARMs: averaged 2.77 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, also a new record after falling from last week’s 2.81 percent average. A year ago at this time, the 1-year ARMs averaged 3.40 percent.

Source: Freddie Mac

Source: http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2011/12/23/mortgage-rates-reach-new-record-lows

Posted by: Rolando Trentini AT 08:00 am | Permalink | 0 Comments | Email

Friday, August 20 2010

Average Mortgage Rates Hit Low of 4.42%

WASHINGTON—Mortgage rates fell to the lowest level in decades for the eighth time in nine weeks, a sign that investors are concerned about the weak economy.

The average rate for 30-year fixed loans this week was 4.42 percent, down from 4.44 percent last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. That’s the lowest since Freddie Mac began tracking rates in 1971.

The average rate on 15-year fixed loans dropped to 3.9 percent, down from 3.92 percent last week and the lowest on records dating back to 1991.

Rates have fallen since spring as investors sought the safety of Treasury bonds, lowering their yield. Mortgage rates tend to track those yields.

Falling rates have pushed refinancing of home loans to the highest level since May 2009. But it’s still lower than during the first three months of that year, when rates first fell to around 5 percent.

Low mortgage rates, however, have failed to spark home sales. They remain hobbled by the weak economy and tight credit standards.

Rates have fallen since spring as investors sought the safety of Treasury bonds, lowering their yield. Mortgage rates tend to track those yields.

To calculate the national average, Freddie Mac collects mortgage rates on Monday through Wednesday of each week from lenders around the country. Rates often fluctuate significantly, even within a given day.

Average rates on five-year adjustable-rate mortgages were unchanged at 3.56 percent. Rates on one-year adjustable-rate mortgages also were unchanged at an average of 3.53 percent.

The rates do not include add-on fees known as points. One point is equal to 1 percent of the total loan amount. The nationwide fee for loans in Freddie Mac’s survey averaged 0.7 a point for 30-year and 1-year mortgages. They averaged 0.6 of a point for 15-year and 5-year mortgages.

By Alan Zibel

Source: Associated Press/AP Online http://www.houselogic.com/news/articles/average-mortgage-rates-hit-low-442/#ixzz0x9mK2ZRe

Posted by: Rolando Trentini AT 09:31 am | Permalink | Email

Sunday, August 08 2010

Mortgage Rate Falls Under 4.5 %

Freddie Mac reports that long-term mortgage rates moved south again this week.

Interest on 30-year fixed loans hit a new low of 4.49 percent, compared to 4.54 percent last week and 5.22 percent a year ago; and the 15-year mortgage landed at 3.95 percent, down from 4 percent last week and 4.63 percent a year ago.

Five-year adjustable-rate mortgages reached a new low of 3.63 percent, down from 3.76 percent last week and 4.73 percent a year ago; while one-year ARMs fell to 3.55 percent from 3.64 percent last week and 4.78 percent a year ago.

Source: http://www.trulia.com/blog/the_cascade_team/2010/08/mortgage_rate_falls_under_4_5

Posted by: Rolando Trentini AT 08:30 am | Permalink | Email

Thursday, July 29 2010

Mortgages for Home Purchases Rise 2%

The number of mortgage applications to purchase homes rose 2 percent last week compared to the previous week on an adjusted basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association weekly survey.

On an unadjusted basis, the index rose 2.4 percent, but remained 34.3 percent lower than it was a year ago. The overall mortgage volume, including refinancings, declined 4.4 percent from the prior week.

This was the highest weekly number of purchase applications since the end of June, and the second week the number of applications has risen, even though mortgage rates increased slightly:

30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.69 percent from 4.59 percent.
15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.12 percent 4.05 percent.
1-year ARMs decreased to 7.15 percent from 7.17 percent.

Source: Mortgage Bankers Association (07/28/2010)

Posted by: Rolando Trentini AT 08:00 am | Permalink | 0 Comments | Email

Saturday, June 19 2010

Mortgage Applications Rise

For the first time in more than a month, the number of mortgage applications to purchase homes rose last week.

On an adjusted basis, the Mortgage Bankers Association purchase index increased 7.3 percent compared to the previous week. On an unadjusted basis it was up 17.4 percent. Compared to the same week last year, applications declined 31.3 percent.

Michael Fratantoni, MBA’s vice president of research and economics, was reluctant to declare this a trend. “While it is clear that purchase applications in May dropped sharply as a result of the tax credit induced increase in applications in April, it is unclear whether we are seeing the beginnings of a rebound now,” he said.

Mortgage rates were up slightly last week:

30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.82 percent from 4.81 percent.
15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.23 percent from 4.26 percent.
1-year ARMs increased to 7.07 percent from 6.94 percent.

Source: Mortgage Bankers Association 06/16/2010) http://www.realtor.org/rmodaily.nsf/pages/News2010061602?OpenDocument

Posted by: Rolando Trentini AT 08:00 am | Permalink | 0 Comments | Email

Friday, January 15 2010

Mortgage Applications Up After New Year's Day

Mortgage application volume increased 14.3 percent last week compared to the previous week on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

On an unadjusted basis applications rose 66 percent. The increase reflects a shortened week due to the New Year’s holiday.

Most of the increase was in refinances, which rose 73.9 percent from the previous week’s unadjusted index. The unadjusted purchase index rose 48.8 percent compared to the previous week and was down 24.9 percent compared to the same week a year ago.

Interest rates slipped:

30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 5.13 percent from 5.18 percent.
15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.45 percent from 4.62 percent.
1-year ARMs increased to 6.83 percent from 6.42 percent.

Source: Mortgage Bankers Association (01/13/2010) http://www.realtor.org/RMODaily.nsf/pages/News2010011302?OpenDocument

Posted by: Rolando Trentini AT 07:00 am | Permalink | 0 Comments | Email