Mortgage rates fall for sixth straight week, Freddie Mac says

Also dropping, the 15-year FRM this week averaged 2.95%, down from 3.01% last week.

Mortgage rates slid for the sixth straight week, driven down almost to last year’s low by continued uncertainty and volatility in the global financial markets.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) decreased to its lowest level since April, 3.91 percent, from 3.97 percent, with points unchanged at 0.41 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio loans, according to the MBA. The 30-year mortgage now sits just 6 points above 3.59% – its lowest point in 2015. One point equals 1 per cent of the loan amount.

The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage fell to 2.83% this week, a decline from last week’s 2.85%. It looks as though this could be an ongoing trend, too, with our latest research showing that average mortgage rates have fallen further this month to hit fresh lows once again – and much of it is due to the new found certainty in the mortgage market.

“In a falling rate environment, mortgage rates often adjust more slowly than capital market rates, and the early-2016 flight-to-quality has run true to form”, Becketti added.

He noted that mortgage rates have dropped 0.36 percentage points, while the yield on a 10-year Treasury bond, which is the benchmark for mortgage rates, has dropped 0.59 percentage points in the same period. Not only did members of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee vote unanimously to keep base rate on hold last week, but Governor Mark Carney has given several sharp hints that the rate isn’t going anywhere, which means we can say with nearly complete certainty that United Kingdom interest rates will stay at their rock-bottom levels for some time.

Mortgage application volume jumped 9.3% on an adjusted basis during the week ended February 5, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.

Meanwhile, the lower rates may be spurring more home buyers to take advantage of lower-cost loans.

Purchase applications were up 0.2%, as refi applications soared by 16%.