Rates Hit New Year-Low

If you are buying or refinancing, now might be the perfect timing to lock in on your rate. According to the latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey(PMMS) Report from Freddie Mac, average mortgage rates just hit the year’s lowest as 30-year FRM fell by 7 basis points to 3.95 percent this week.

Mortgage rates decreased by more than a quarter of a percentage point since the beginning of 2017. For the past months, rates held at the four-percent range and experts predict rates to climb up as much as 4.3 percent in the middle of the year, but it is almost June and the numbers are saying otherwise.

This is a surprise for many borrowers, buyers and refinancers, since rates might march up again given the near Fed meeting.

THE REPORT
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell from the previous week’s 4.02 percent to 3.95 percent for the week ending May 25, 2017. At the same time a year ago, the 30-year FRM average was at 3.64 percent.
The 15-year fixed-rate average also fell down to 3.19 percent from 3.27 last week, although still higher from 2016’s 2.89 percent.
The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage concluded with a 3.07 percent average this week, another decrease from 3.13 percent last week, but remaining higher compared to the 2.87 percent average a year ago.

THE SURVEY
The Primary Mortgage Market Survey® was established in April 1971 as the foremost source of mortgage trends in the regional and national level. Its data is utilized by both the public and the mortgage industry at large to gauge market conditions and evaluate mortgage loan options.

SURVEY PARAMETERS
The survey results are gathered based on lenders’ most popular mortgage products – inclusive of 30 and 15-year FRMs as well as adjustable-rate mortgages. The first-lien prime conventional conforming home purchase mortgages (with an LTV of 80 percent) are considered primary basis for the survey. Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury yields are used to index ARMs. Lenders are asked to provide the a) initial coupon rate and points, as well as b) ARM margins for this purpose.