For the second week straight, mortgage interest rates declined, according to the latest Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey. The report has shown the 10-year Treasury yield rise by 5 basis points for the week ending July 27, 2017 while the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped by 4 basis points to a new low.
The report
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) concluded with an average of 3.92 percent from last week’s 3.96 percent. A decline still higher than the previous year’s 3.48 percent.
The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage finished with an average of 3.2 percent, also down from last week’s 3.23. During the same time a year ago, the 15-year FRM stood at 2.78 percent.
The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage was never exempt from the decline, finishing from 3.21 percent a week prior to 3.18 percent now. A year ago, the 15-year ARM stood at an average of 2.78 percent.
The upcoming announcement of the Fed’s balance sheet unwinding is seen by experts as a major influencing factor that could disturb interest rates in the near future and determine whether rates are to continue its downward direction, or to move some steps forward.
The survey
The Primary Mortgage Market Survey® was established in April 1971 as the foremost source of mortgage trends in the regional and national level. Its data is utilized by both the public and the mortgageindustry at large to gauge market conditions and evaluate mortgage loan options.
Survey parameters
The survey results are gathered based on lenders’ most popular mortgage products – inclusive of 30 and 15-year FRMs as well as adjustable-rate mortgages. The first-lien prime conventional conforming home purchase mortgages (with an LTV of 80 percent) are considered primary basis for the survey. Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury yields are used to index ARMs. Lenders are asked to provide the a) initial coupon rate and points, as well as b) ARM margins for this purpose.
