After slight movement early last week, mortgage rates ended up looking better for borrowers with a decrease of .125% for conforming 30 year and 15 year mortgage interest rates making them more competitive with FHA mortgage rates.

FreeRateUpdate.com's daily survey of wholesale and direct lenders show that current 30 year fixed mortgage rates are at 4.750% and 15 year fixed mortgage rates are at 4.125%. 5/1 adjustable mortgage rates are at 3.250%. Still remaining below 5%, these are the best mortgage rates available with 0.7 to 1% origination fee to well qualified borrowers who can also meet lender approval.

FHA 5/1 adjustable mortgage rates increased .125% and are at 3.625%. >FHA 30 year fixed mortgage interest rates are at 4.625% and FHA 15 year fixed mortgage interest rates are at 4.000%, both remaining the same.

FHA mortgage loans continue to attract borrowers for the benefits they offer such as the low down payment requirement although FHA closing costs (APR) are higher due to the upfront mortgage insurance premium and other applicable FHA fees. Coming April 18th, FHA is increasing the annual mortgage insurance premium by .25% for FHA 30 year and FHA 15 year fixed rate mortgage loans.

Jumbo 15 year fixed mortgage rates saw the biggest jump increasing .250% and are at 5.250%. Jumbo 30 year fixed mortgage rates are at 5.500% and jumbo 5/1 ARM loan rates are at 4.125%, both remaining the same. Jumbo mortgage loans are available for borrowers in need of financing above the conforming loan limit which is $417,000 to $729,250 depending on location. Available with 0.7 to 1% origination fee, these low jumbo mortgage rates can still be obtained by borrowers who have outstanding credit.

MBS prices (mortgage backed securities) have fluctuated each day this past week depending on the news and investor reaction. Mortgage rates increase and decrease in the opposite direction of MBS prices. After Tuesday's mixed results, mortgage rates stabilized for the rest of the week upon the release of the producer price index,, the consumer price index and housing starts which all came in better than expected.

FreeRateUpdate.com surveys more than two dozen wholesale and direct lenders' rate sheets to determine the most accurate mortgage rates available to well qualified consumers at a standard .07 to 1 point origination.

Today’s New York Mortgage Rates

Published: February 24, 2011

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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.