3.79: Rates Below Four Percent For Three Months

• October 22, 2015

by Tianna Mañón

Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.79 percent this week with an average 0.6 point. Rates have now been below 4 percent for three months.

Sean Becketti, chief economist at Freddie Mac, said the lower rate can be attributed to the comments of Daniel Tarullo, governor at the Federal Reserve. Tarullo became the second governor from the Treasury’s Board of Governors to dissent with Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen and state that the benchmark interest rate shouldn’t be raised last week.

“Following Federal Reserve Governor Daniel Tarullo’s remarks last week Treasury yields dipped,” Becketti said. “In response, 30-year mortgage rates fell 3 basis points this week to 3.79 percent. The housing market continues to benefit from low mortgage rates, with housing starts for September beating expectations and the NAHB’s Housing Market index registering a ten year high in October.”

UrbanTurf is following the trajectory of 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/rates_inch_lower_treasury_dissent/10494