Mortgage rates down slightly, Freddie Mac says
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The average rates that lenders were offering for 30-year fixed-rate home loans dipped to 4.93% this week, down from 4.97% a week earlier, according to the latest report from Freddie Mac.
The giant mortgage buyer said Thursday morning that 15-year fixed mortgages were averaging 4.33%, a notch below 4.34% last week. Its news releases generally are posted at this site later in the day.
The survey assumed that borrowers had good credit, 20% down payments or equity in the homes, and paid lender fees, or points, totaling 0.7% of the loan balance for the 30-year mortgage and 0.6% for the 15-year loan.
The five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage, which offers a fixed rate for the first five years, averaged 4.12% with 0.5% in points. The one-year Treasury-indexed adjustable rate loan averaged 4.23% with 0.6% in points, according to the survey, which was conducted Monday through Wednesday.
Well-qualified borrowers often can obtain lower rates than those in Freddie Mac’s survey by shopping around, said Edward Ferrara, president of the website www.freerateupdate.com, which says it reviews more than two dozen lenders’ rate sheets for brokers on a daily basis.
For borrowers with good credit and 20% down payments, 30-year fixed mortgages were available at 4.75% Thursday morning with 1.0% in points, said broker Jeff Lazerson at Mortgage Grader in Laguna Niguel.
-- E. Scott Reckard
