3.87: Mortgage Rates Remain at Record Lows

• February 9, 2012

by Shilpi Paul

Mortgage rates remained at record lows this week, even in light of positive employment news.

This morning, Freddie Mac reported 3.87 percent with an average 0.8 point as the average on a 30-year fixed mortgage. Rates hit a new record low of 3.87 percent last week. Last year at this time, rates were just above 5 percent.

From Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist Frank Nothaft:

A strong January employment report added upward pressure to most mortgage rates this week. The economy gained 243,000 jobs last month, the largest monthly gain since April 2011, and the unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent, which was the lowest since February 2009.

We have been saying this frequently in past weeks, but it bears repeating: 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. Still, rates are at historical lows.

Here’s a look at the path of rates since last January:

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/3.87_mortgage_rates_remain_at_record_low/5101