Mortgage interest rates declined for the second time in last three weeks after nearly eight weeks of sharp increases according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS) for the week ending July 18th, 2013.

Fixed Rate Mortgages:

Interest rates on fixed rate mortgages took a break from rising this week with the 30-year fixed rate mortgage declining fourteen basis points to an average of 4.37 percent with an average of 0.7 points after increasing by twenty-two basis points last week. Mortgage rates have still increased by 102 basis points over the last eleven weeks. A year ago, the 30-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 3.53 percent.

Average 30-year fixed rates were generally the lowest in the North Central and Western portions of the United States where mortgage rates averaged 4.33 percent while the highest rates were reported in the Southwestern area of the country where interest rates averaged 4.42 percent.

The average rate for a 15-year fixed mortgage also fell this week, averaging 3.41 percent with an average of 0.7 points, down from an average of 3.53 percent last week. At this time last year, the 15-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 2.83 percent.

Adjustable Rate Mortgages:

Interest rates for adjustable-rate mortgages were mixed again this week with the 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid ARM averaging 3.17 percent, with an average of 0.6 points, down from an average of 3.26 percent last week. The 5-year adjustable rate mortgage averaged 2.69 percent a year earlier.

The 1-year Treasury-indexed adjustable rate mortgage averaged 2.66 percent with an average of 0.4 points, unchanged for a third consecutive week. A year ago, the 1-year adjustable rate mortgage averaged 2.69 percent.

Tags: 15-year fixed, 30-year fixed, fixed rate mortgage, freddie mac, interest rates, mortgage rates, 5-year hybrid, 1-year treasury

Source:
Freddie Mac

Reported by Shirley Allen