U.S. mortgages rates show little change

Published July 3, 2014 by Robert Powell, III

U.S. mortgage rates showed little change heading into the July 4 weekend, according to McLean-based Freddie Mac.

The company’s weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey, released Thursday, showed a slight dip in rates for 30-year, fixed rate-mortgages and one-year Treasury-indexed, adjustable-rate mortgages while two other types of home loans remained unchanged.

“Mortgage rates were little changed from the previous week and remain below levels seen the same time last year, which should provide some help with homebuyer affordability in many markets,” Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist at Freddie Mac, said in a statement.

“Recent housing data was better with pending home sales up 6.1 percent in May and overall construction spending showing a slight improvement with private residential spending now up 7.5 percent on yearly basis,” he said.

The survey showed:

• 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.12 percent with an average 0.5 point for the week ending July 3, down from previous week when it averaged 4.14 percent. A year ago, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.29 percent.

• 15-year FRM averaged 3.22 percent with an average 0.5 point, unchanged from the previous week. Last year, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.39 percent.

• 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 2.98 percent with an average 0.4 point, unchanged from the previous week. Twelve month before, the 5-year ARM averaged 3.10 percent.

• 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.38 percent with an average 0.4 point, down from last week when it averaged 2.40 percent. At same period last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 2.66 percent.