30 year fixed mortgages were available at 4.75 percent all of last week to well-qualified consumers paying a standard .07 to 1 point origination, says FreeRateUpdate.com, a rate research website. 15 year fixed mortgages could be obtained at 4.25, and the 5/1 ARM at 3.625.
FHA loans continued to be available at the same rates as conforming mortgages. While MI and other FHA fees make FHA loans more expensive, a home-buyer tax credit of up to $8,000 is available through the end of April and applicable toward closing cost. New FHA loan guidelines, effective April 05, include an increase in MI to 2.25 percent of the amount financed.
Jumbo mortgage rates held steady last week as well. The jumbo 30 year fixed rate, for true jumbo loans exceeding conforming jumbo mortgage loan limits, remained at 5.625 percent all week. 5.5% was available to consumers with extremely low loan to value ratios of 60% or less. The benchmark 10 year treasury yield, a leading indicator for 30 year mortgage rates, finished the week flat at 3.7 percent. When mortgage rates dipped to all time record lows late last year, the yield dipped below 3.2 percent.
Despite the much anticipated Fed exit from mortgage-backed securities purchasing now just 2.5 weeks away MBS prices, which drive mortgage rates in the opposite direction, were also flat.
FreeRateUpdate.com researches over 2 dozen wholesale lenders’ rate sheets daily to determine the mortgage rates available to well-qualified consumers at a standard .07 to 1 point origination. These rates are well known in the mortgage industry as "par rates".
Current Mortgage Rates:
Conforming:
- 30-yr fixed - 4.750%
- 15-yr fixed - 4.250%
- 5/1 ARM – 3.625%
FHA/VA:
- FHA 30-yr fixed – 4.750%
- VA 30-yr fixed – 4.875%
- FHA 15-yr fixed – 4.500%
- FHA 5/1 ARM – 3.625%
- FHA 5/1 ARM – 3.625%
Jumbo
- Jumbo 30-yr fixed – 5.625%
- Jumbo Conforming 30-yr fixed - 4.875%
Source: FreeRateUpdate.com
Published: March 16, 2010
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 Edward James Ferrara III spent 8 years (2001-2008) brokering and banking home loans in Orange County, CA to the tune of some 500 million dollars in mortgages funded by May of 2008, when he founded the rate research website FreeRateUpdate.com. Ed is not only the founder of FreeRateUpdate.com, he is also a lead contributor to the site, whose roster includes over a dozen writers and of which receives over 50,000 page views per month.
Ed's passion for helping consumers to avoid falling victim to banks dishing out higher rates for bigger profits has helped FreeRateUpdate.com to become a unique authority on mortgage rates. Ed recently married Cheyne Aki Gantt and became a first time father to Edward James Ferrara IV, born August 31st 2009. Ed and FreeRateUpdate.com have recently been cited in numerous media outlets including the Los Angeles Times, Yahoo Finance, and Marketwatch. |
