April 27, 2012 (Jeff Alan)

The average interest rates for conventional 30-year fixed rate single-family, fully amortized, purchase-money mortgages fell from 4.36 percent in February to 4.12 percent in March according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) Monthly Interest Rate Survey.

The results of the survey reflect loans closed during the March 26-30 period from 29 lenders and data from 5,114 mortgage loans. Since mortgage loans typically take 30-45 to close, the reported rates reflect market conditions in mid to late February.

The average interest rate of all mortgage loans, fixed and adjustable-rate, was 3.89 percent in March, down from 4.05 percent in February.

The effective mortgage interest rate, including initial fees and charges, fell to 3.93 percent from 4.17 percent in February.

Twenty percent of all purchase-money mortgage loans were no-point loans, down from 31 percent in February, while initial fees and charges averaged 0.93 percent of the loan balance in March, unchanged from February.

The average loan amount increased to $247,100 in March from $244,300 in February, with the average loan-to-price ratio declining from 75.3 percent in February to 74.8 percent in March.

The National Average Contract Mortgage Rate for the Purchase of Previously Occupied Home by Combined Lenders, used to index some ARM contracts, fell from 4.08 percent in February to 3.90 percent in March.

Tags: FHFA, mortgage interest rates, purchase money mortgages, initial fees and charges, points, mortgage loan, ARM, no-points mortgage

Source:
FHFA