Mortgage rates retreat after weaker housing indicators released
By Amy Hoak, MarketWatch
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) — Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell back below 4% this week, after weaker housing economic indicators were released, Freddie Mac’s chief economist said on Thursday.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.99% for the week ending March 29, down from 4.08% last week and 4.86% a year ago.
Rates on other mortgages tracked by Freddie Mac also dropped, with the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaging 3.23%, down from 3.3% last week and 4.09% a year ago.
The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 2.9%, down from 2.96% last week and 3.7% a year ago. And the 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.78%, down from 2.84% last week and 3.26% a year ago.
To obtain the rates, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage required payment of an average 0.7 point, the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage and the 5-year ARM required an average 0.8 point and the 1-year ARM required an average 0.6 point. A point is 1% of the mortgage amount, charged as prepaid interest.
Recent measures of housing indicators have revealed a weaker market, said Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist of Freddie Mac, in a news release.
“The S&P/Case Shiller 20-City Composite home-price index slid in January to its lowest reading since December 2002. In addition, new-home sales declined 0.5% in February, below the market consensus of an increase, and pending existing-home sales also declined for the month,” he said.
