Mortgage Rates Virtually Unchanged
November 29, 2012
Fixed mortgage rates were virtually unchanged and remained near their record lows, according to the latest Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM), which has averaged below 4 percent all but one week in 2012, averaged 3.32 percent with an average 0.8 point for the week ending Nov. 29. This is up from last week when it averaged 3.31 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged percent.
"Mortgage rates were virtually unchanged this week amid growing concerns around the fiscal cliff,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s vice president and chief economist. “Although low mortgage rates failed to boost new home sales in October, year-to-date sales are up 20 percent compared with 2011 volumes, and there are growing signs of a turnaround in house prices. The S&P/Case-Shiller national home price index rose 5.2 percent over the first three quarters of this year. In addition, all 20 of the city indices had positive growth over the first 9 months, led by a 17.9 percent increase in Phoenix. More recently, the Federal Reserve's Nov. 28 regional economic review, known as the Beige Book, noted that 10 of the 12 districts reported the market for single-family homes continued to improve leading into mid-November."
Meanwhile, the 15-year FRM, which has averaged below 3 percent since the last week in May, averaged 2.64 percent with an average 0.6 point. This is up from the prior week when it averaged 2.63 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.3 percent.
The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 2.72 percent this week with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 2.74 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 2.90 percent.
The 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.56 percent this week with an average 0.5 point, the same as last week. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 2.78 percent.
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