Fannie Mae sees rates on 30-year loans at 4 percent by end of year
BY INMAN NEWS, THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2013.
Inman News®
Mortgage rates edged up this week as investors shook off worries about the European debt crisis and remained optimistic about the U.S. economy and prospects for growth.
Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.57 percent with an average 0.8 point for the week ending March 28, up from 3.54 percent last week but down from 3.99 percent a year ago, Freddie Mac said in releasing the results of its latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey. Rates on 30-year fixed-rate loans hit a low in Freddie Mac records dating to 1971 of 3.31 percent during the week ending Nov. 21, 2012.
For 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, rates averaged 2.76 percent with an average 0.7 point, up from 2.72 percent last last week but down from 3.23 percent a year ago. Rates on 15-year fixed-rate loans hit a low in Freddie Mac records dating to 1991 of 2.63 percent during the week ending Nov. 21, 2012.
For five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid-rate mortgage (ARM) loans, rates averaged 2.68 percent with an average 0.6 point, up from 2.61 percent last week and down from 2.90 percent a year before. The average rate for last week tied an all-time low in Freddie Mac records dating to 2005 last seen during the week ending Feb. 28.
Rates on one-year Treasury-indexed ARM loans averaged 2.62 percent with an average 0.3 point, virtually unchanged from last week, but down from 2.78 percent a year ago. Rates on one-year ARM loans hit a low in records dating to 1984 of 2.52 percent during the week ending Dec. 20, 2012.
Looking back a week, applications for purchase loans rose a seasonally adjusted 7 percent for the week ending March 22 from the previous week, according to a separate survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association. Demand for purchase loans was up 10 percent from a year ago.