The latest Freddie Mac report shows all-time low mortgage rates, reports the Los Angeles Times. Lenders were offering 30-year fixed loans to credit-worthy buyers at 3.66% and the 15-year fixed mortgage at 2.94%, on average. Here are the specific figures for the week ending June 28, 2012.
- 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.66% with an average 0.7 point. (Last year’s 30-year FRM averaged 4.51%.)
- 15-year FRM averaged 2.94% with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 2.95%. (Last year’s FRM averaged 3.69%.)
- 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 2.79% this week, with an average 0.6 point, up from last week when it averaged 2.77. (Last year’s 5-year ARM averaged 3.22%.)
- 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.74% this week with an average 0.4 point, the same as last week. (1-year ARM averaged 2.97% one year ago.)
Foreclosures were also down by 2% in the first quarter of this year as compared to the previous quarter, according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Year-over-year, the rate fell by 8%. Overall, about 4.5% of all home loans were 60 days or more behind on payments, said the OCC, which is 10% lower than the previous quarter and 6% from one year ago.
Declining interest rates coupled with lower prices may encourage borrowers to purchase homes now rather than later, when the market begins to support higher sales prices. The National Association of Realtors expects the median existing-home price to rise 3% this year and another 5.7% in 2013.
Speak Your Mind