Over the past week, low mortgage rates have remained unchanged as current events had less of an impact on the markets. Freerateupdate.com's survey of wholesale and direct lenders show that conforming 30 year mortgage rates remain at 4.625%, 15 year fixed mortgage rates are at 3.750% and 5/1 adjustable mortgage rates are at 3.000%. These low mortgage rates have persisted for the past two weeks. With good credit, these are the lowest mortgage rates available with 0.7 to 1% origination point to well qualified borrowers.

FHA mortgage rates have also gone unchanged this past week. FHA 30 year fixed mortgage rates are at 4.375%, FHA 15 year fixed mortgage rates are at 4.000% and FHA 5/1 adjustable mortgage rates are at 3.750%. Borrowers choose FHA mortgage loans because they offer low mortgage rates and low down payment requirements. FHA closing costs (APR) tend to be higher due to various FHA fees and the upfront mortgage insurance premium.

High end borrowers are also able to continue enjoying low mortgage rates that have remained the same. 30 year jumbo mortgage rates are at 5.250%, 15 year jumbo mortgage rates are at 5.000% and 5/1 adjustable mortgage rates are at 3.625%. Jumbo mortgage loans are those above the conforming loan limit which is $417,000 to $729,250 depending on location.

MBS prices (mortgage backed securities) affect mortgage rates which move in the opposite direction. Reporting included new homes sales which decreased to a record low in February while home prices also decreased. While jobless claims were down, durable goods orders were also down. The stock market has been rallying and increasing for the past four days. Global events had little impact on the markets this past week. MBS markets have again gone up a little and down a little, leaving mortgage rates unchanged.

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 fee.

Published: March 30, 2011

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

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.