Long-term mortgage rates declined for the third week in a row and now stand at the second-lowest level this year. The outlook is for little change next week.
During the seven-day period ended Thursday, 30-year fixed rates averaged 4.10 percent, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
Thirty-year fixed rates have only been lower once this year — in the week that concluded on Jan. 19 when the average came in at 4.09 percent.
The 30 year declined from
4.14 percent in last week’s survey and has been lower each week since the week ended March 16 when it averaged 4.30 percent. But long-term rates still remain higher than 3.59 percent during the week ended April 7, 2016.
A Mortgage Daily analysis of recent Treasury market activity indicates that fixed mortgage rates should be around the same level in Freddie’s next survey.
A majority of panelists surveyed by Bankrate.com for the week April 6 to April 12 agreed with Mortgage Daily and predicted that mortgage rates won’t move more than 2 BPS over the next week. An increase was expected by 36 percent, and just 9 percent projected a decline.
However, if tomorrow’s employment report, which is already expected to be robust, is exceptionally strong, rates could turn higher, while a weak report will pull rates down.
Interest rates on jumbo mortgages were
6 BPS lower than conforming rates in the U.S. Mortgage Market Index report from Mortgage Daily and OpenClose for the week ended March 31. The jumbo-conforming spread was more narrow than a negative 11 BPS the previous week.
Freddie reported that 15-year fixed rates averaged
3.36 percent in the latest report, retreating 3 BPS from the week ended March 30. The spread between 15- and 30-year rates thinned to 74 basis points from 75 BPS the previous week.
Five-year, Treasury-indexed, hybrid, adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 3.19 percent in Freddie’s latest survey, up a basis point from one week earlier.
Interest rates on hybrid ARMs adjust based on the one-year Treasury yield, which closed Thursday at 1.05 percent, according to Treasury Department data. The one-year yield was up from 1.03 seven days earlier.
The six-month London Interbank Offered Rate, which is also used as an ARM index, was 1.43 percent as of Wednesday, Bankrate.com reported. LIBOR inched up from 1.42 percent the same day last week.
The most-recent Mortgage Market Index report had ARM share at 9.0 percent, widening from 7.3 percent one week prior.
