Mortgage rates continued to dip down during the week ending Aug. 21, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. It was the second consecutive week that the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) declined.
The average rate for a 30-year FRM was 4.10%, down slightly from 4.12% the previous week. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.58%.
The average rate for a 15-year FRM was 3.23%, down slightly from 3.24% the week prior. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.60%.
The average rate for a five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) was 2.95%, down from 2.97% the previous week. A year ago, the five-year ARM averaged 3.21%.
The average rate for a one-year Treasury-indexed ARM was 2.38%, up slightly from 2.36% the previous week. At this time last year, the one-year ARM averaged 2.67%.
‘Mortgage rates were down slightly this week, following the decline in 10-year Treasury yields,’ says Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist, Freddie Mac, in a statement. ‘Meanwhile, housing starts in July jumped 15.7 percent to 1.093 million units after falling 4.0 percent a month earlier. Also, July's consumer prices increased at a 0.1 percent seasonally adjusted pace, the slowest in five months.’