Freddie Mac recently released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing fixed-rate mortgages changing little amid sluggish economic, mixed housing data, and ongoing concerns over the European debt markets. The 30-year fixed remained unchanged at 4.09 percent, while the 15-year fixed dropped a single basis point to 3.29 percent, marking a new record low.
The survey showed that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.09 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending September 22, 2011, matching last week when it also averaged 4.09 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.37 percent.
Additionally, the 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.29 percent with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.30 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.82 percent.
5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.02 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, up from last week when it averaged 2.99 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 3.54 percent.
“Recent data on the housing market were mixed. The Census Bureau reported that new housing construction dipped five percent in August to an annual pace of 571,000 homes, and homebuilder confidence remained near record lows for September according to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index,” says Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist, Freddie Mac. “Existing home sales, however, rose to 5.03 million homes in August, which represented the strongest annualized rate since March of this year.”
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