August 31, 2011 (Jeff Alan)

Mortgage interest rates for conventional 30-year fixed rate loans declined from 4.79 percent in June to 4.69 percent in July according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) Monthly Interest Rate Survey.

The results of the survey reflect loans closed during the July 25-29 period from 37 lenders and data from 5,316 mortgage loans. Since mortgage loans typically take 30-45 to close, the reported rates reflect market conditions in mid to late June.

The average interest rate of all mortgage loans, fixed and adjustable-rate, was 4.55 percent in July, down from 4.61 percent in June.

The effective mortgage interest rate, including initial fees and charges, was 4.67 percent in July, down from 4.74 percent in June.

Thirty percent of all purchase-money mortgage loans were no-point loans, consistent with the levels seen over the past four months.

Initial fees and charges averaged 0.85 percent of the loan balance in July, down from 0.94 percent in June.

The average loan amount declined in July to $213,800 from $219,000 in June, with the average loan-to-price ratio declining from 76.3 percent in June to 76.0 percent in July.

The National Average Contract Mortgage Rate for the Purchase of Previously Occupied Home by Combined Lenders, used to index some ARM contracts, decreased from 4.62 percent in June to 4.57 percent in July.

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

Source:
FHFA