3.69: Mortgage Rates Continue to Slide

• March 26, 2015

by Lark Turner

Mortgage rates declined for the second week in a row, Freddie Mac said Thursday.

The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is 3.69 percent with an average 0.6 point this week, according to Freddie Mac. That’s down from 3.78 last week and 4.40 percent a year ago. Rates have stayed below 4 percent since last fall, and low rates bode well for a strong spring housing season.

In a news release, Len Kiefer, Freddie Mac’s deputy chief economist, said the drop in rates was the result of middling housing and economic reports.

“The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 3.69 percent this week following a decline in 10-year Treasury yields,” he said. “Low mortgage rates are a welcome sign for those in the market to buy a home this spring season and will help to support homebuyer affordability. Existing home sales in February increased slightly, but less than expected, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.88 million units. Meanwhile, new home sales outperformed expectations and surged 7.8 percent to an annual pace of 539,000 units.”

UrbanTurf is following the path of the rates in this chart:

The UrbanTurf Mortgage Rate Disclaimer: The rates reported by Freddie Mac for 30-year mortgages are usually the best rates that the most qualified borrowers can get, so borrowers or those considering refinancing should not necessarily read this news and think that they can go out and get a loan with the quoted interest rate.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/3.69_mortgage_rates_continue_to_slide/9690