“Meridian wants to ensure we are offering our Members a full suite of mortgage products at competitive rates”, said Bill Whyte, Chief Member Services Officer for Meridian. The bond market had another strong day this mid-week and pricing on mortgage-backed securities (MBS), which lenders use to determine mortgage interest rates increased once again.
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While student loan debt does play a role in the low homeownership rates among millennials, it does not fully explain why this generation is slow to purchase a home, according to Freddie Mac’s monthly Insight & Outlook for September released Wednesday.
This morning MBS is in the green, as stocks are on the decline. The average doesn’t include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates.
Mortgage rates were largely unchanged for the week ended October 1, despite the ongoing global growth concerns putting downward pressure on Treasury yields, Freddie Mac reports. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.19%. In case of the 15-year fixed home loan, the average rate ticked down to 3.07% from 3.08% that it carried a week earlier. The short term 15 year loan interest rates have been offered at 3.22% at the bank carrying an April of 3.412% today. The five-year ARM average was unchanged from last week at 2.91 percent with an average 0.4 point. The one-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.53 percent this week with an average 0.2 point, unchanged from last week.
10 year loan deals can be had for 3.0% at the bank today yielding an April of 3.276%. At this time last year, the one-year ARM averaged 2.42 percent.
The benchmark 30 year fixed rate loan interest rates are listed at 3.625 % at Citi Mortgage (NYSE:C) carrying an April of 3.825 % today.
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That compares with three months’ interest on the remaining balance for a variable-rate mortgage, which Scott says is generally less than the fixed-rate penalty. The latest figure shows that construction activity remains a bright spot, signaling that the housing market can provide a solid support for the economy.
