November 23, 2011 (Jeff Alan)
The average interest rates for conventional 30-year fixed rate mortgages declined from 4.56 percent in September to 4.36 percent in October according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) Monthly Interest Rate Survey.
The results of the survey reflect loans closed during the October 25-31 period from 29 lenders and data from 4,131 mortgage loans. Since mortgage loans typically take 30-45 to close, the reported rates reflect market conditions in mid to late September.
The average interest rate of all mortgage loans, fixed and adjustable-rate, was 4.17 percent in October, down from 4.36 percent in September.
The effective mortgage interest rate, including initial fees and charges, declined in October to 4.29 percent from 4.49 percent in September.
Twenty-eight percent of all purchase-money mortgage loans were no-point loans, down from 29 percent in September but within two percentage points of the levels seen over the past seven months.
Initial fees and charges averaged 0.83 percent of the loan balance in October, down from 0.94 percent in September.
The average loan amount decreased in October to $218,500 from $222,700 in September, with the average loan-to-price ratio increasing from 78.3 percent in September to 78.4 percent in October.
The National Average Contract Mortgage Rate for the Purchase of Previously Occupied Home by Combined Lenders, used to index some ARM contracts, decreased from 4.38 percent in September to 4.19 percent in October.
Tags: FHFA, mortgage interest rates, purchase money mortgages, initial fees and charges, points, mortgage loan, ARM, no-points mortgage
Source:
FHFA