Mortgage Rates Continue to Hover Near Year Lows

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Mortgage rates for most U.S. home loans remained mostly flat again this week, remaining below the levels of this time last year.

The average for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage slipped to 4.12% from 4.13% last week, according to the latest survey from mortgage buyer Freddie Mac. The popular loan averaged 4.39% a year ago.
The 15-year, fixed-rate average also dropped to 3.23%, from 3.26% last week. It averaged 3.43% at this time a year ago.

Averages for hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages were mixed. At 2.99% a week ago, the five-year ARM is now trending at 3.01%. A year ago, it averaged 3.18%. The one-year ARM dipped to 2.38% from 2.39% a week ago. It averaged 2.64% at this time last year.
“Mortgage rates were little changed this week with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate at 4.12%, just a basis point lower from the previous week,” Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist for Freddie Mac, said in a statement.

“Meanwhile, on Wednesday afternoon the yield on the 10-year Treasury surged as data showed gross domestic product for the second quarter at a 4.0% annualized rate, above expectations.”
Mortgage rates are slightly lower than they were at this time last year, having fallen recently after climbing last summer when Federal Reserve announced it would curb its monthly bond purchases.
Looking ahead, experts predict we can see more of the same.

In the latest Mortgage Rate Trend Survey by Bankrate.com, 82% of the analysts polled believe averages will remain unchanged over the next week. Another 18% of analysts polled say rates will rise.

None of the analysts polled predict rates will drop.
“Rates seem to be ignoring all the factors that normally affect them,” said Polyana de Costa, a senior mortgage reporter at Bankrate.com. “They will probably ignore Friday’s jobs report, too.”