Mortgage Rates Fall; 30-Year Fixed at 4.71% - Freddie Mac

JANUARY 13, 2011, 10:16 A.M. ET
Mortgage Rates Fall; 30-Year Fixed at 4.71% - Freddie Mac

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Mortgage rates declined again in the latest week, moving lower as bond yields drifted downward, according to Freddie Mac's (FMCC) weekly survey of mortgage rates.

Rates slumped for months last year, setting repeated record lows as yields on Treasurys declined amid economic uncertainty. Yields began to rise near the end of last year, prodding rates higher before declining again of late. Mortgage rates generally track yields, which move inversely to Treasury prices.

"Bond yields drifted lower following the release of the December employment report, which was weaker than the market consensus forecast and implied that the labor market is still in a sluggish recovery," said Freddie Chief Economist Frank Nothaft.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.71% for the week ended Thursday, down from the prior week's 4.77% average and down from 5.06% a year ago. Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages were 4.08%, down from 4.13% in the previous week and 4.45% a year earlier.

Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 3.72%, lower than the prior week's 3.75% and 4.32% a year earlier. One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs were 3.23%, down from 3.24% and 4.39%, respectively.

To obtain the rates, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgages required payment of an average 0.8 point, the 15- and five-year rates required a 0.7 point and the one-year required an average 0.6 point. A point is 1% of the mortgage amount, charged as prepaid interest.


-By Nathan Becker, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2855; nathan.becker@dowjones.com;