The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.21 percent this week, the lowest since November 2013, Freddie Mac reported in its weekly mortgage market survey.
“Mortgage rates continued moving down following the decline in 10-year Treasury yields after a dismal report on real GDP growth in the first quarter,” says Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.
Freddie Mac reports the following national averages for mortgage rates for the week ending May 8:
> 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 4.21 percent, with an average 0.6 point, dropping from last week’s 4.29 percent average. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 3.42 percent.
> 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.32 percent, with an average 0.6 point, dropping from last week’s 3.38 percent average. A year ago, 15-year rates averaged 2.61 percent.
> 5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 3.05 percent, with an average 0.5 point, holding the same as last week. Last year at this time, 5-year ARMs averaged 2.58 percent.
> 1-year ARMs: averaged 2.43 percent, with an average 0.4, dropping from last week’s 2.45 percent. A year ago, 1-year ARMs averaged 2.53 percent.
Source: Freddie Mac
Mortgage Delinquencies Drop by Double Digits
The mortgage delinquency rate nationwide stood at 3.61 percent at the end of the first quarter of 2014, down more than 24 percent compared to the same time a year ago, according to the latest mortgage report from TransUnion. That marked the ninth consecutive quarter that the delinquency rate declined.
The mortgage delinquency rate now stands at the same level as it was in the second quarter of 2008.
“It’s encouraging to see mortgage delinquencies drop once again, especially during a period when mortgage originations slowed considerably,” says Steve Chaouki, head of financial services for TransUnion. “This trend in improved performance is driven in part by lenders working their way through the foreclosure backlog, along with continued conservatism in underwriting new mortgages.”
All 50 states as well as the District of Columbia posted drops in the mortgage delinquency rate over the past year. The largest percentage declines in mortgage delinquency rates occurred in some of the states that were worst-hit during the mortgage crisis: Arizona (down 37.8 percent in the past year); California (down 36.9 percent), and Nevada (down 34 percent).
Five years ago, both Arizona and California had delinquency rates that were nearly double the national average. Now, the states are posting rates at 2.81 percent and 2.80 percent, respectively — lower than the national average of 3.61 percent, according to TransUnion.
Source: TransUnion