Real Estate Notes
30-year mortgage rates hit 4th record low in 5 weeks
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Mortgage rates fell this week to a record low for the fourth time in five weeks.
The average for 30-year fixed-rate loans was 4.56 percent, down from 4.57 last week, mortgage company Freddie Mac said Thursday. That's the lowest since Freddie Mac began tracking rates in 1971.
The last time home loan rates were lower was during the 1950s, when most mortgages lasted 20 or 25 years.
The rate on the 15-year fixed loan dropped this week to 4.03 percent, down from 4.06 percent last week and the lowest on records dating from 1991.
The average for five-year adjustable-rate mortgages was 3.79 percent, down from 3.85 percent a week earlier. One-year ARMs fell to an average of 3.7 percent, from 3.74 percent.
The rates do not include add-on fees known as points. One point is equal to 1 percent of the total loan amount. The nationwide fee in Freddie Mac's survey averaged 0.7 a point for 30-, 15- and one-year loans. The average fee for five-year loans was 0.6 of a point.
It's unlikely that low mortgage rates will bolster housing. Rates have hovered near historic lows for more than a year, so many people have already taken advantage of them to buy or refinance a home.
And many of those who haven't wouldn't qualify for a loan. They either owe more than their homes are worth, have shaky credit or have lost their jobs.
"It's a small decrease in interest rates, so it might attract a few more homebuyers, but more importantly it opens the window of refinancing opportunities for people with fixed-rate mortgages," said Keith Gumbinger, vice president of HSH Associates, a publisher of consumer loan information, in Pompton Plains, N.J.
The Mortgage Bankers Association's gauge of refinancing increased 8.6 percent in the week ended July 16 to the highest level since May 2009, the association said Wednesday. The purchase index climbed 3.4 percent from a 13-year low.
-- From news services
