The Truth About Mortgage.com

According to Freddie Mac’s weekly survey, fixed-rate mortgages eased this week after moving higher for about a month, with the 30-year fixed averaging 6.37%, down from 6.42% last week, though still above year-ago levels of 6.30%.

“Mortgage rates eased slightly this week following three weeks of increases,” Freddie Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft said in a statement

The 15-year fixed also improved slightly, averaging 6.03%, down from 6.09% last week, and 5.98% a year ago.

Adjustable-rate mortgages continued to trend downward, with the five-year ARM averaging 6.11%, down from 6.15%, but still higher than its year-ago average of 6.00%.

The one-year ARM dipped to 5.58% from 5.60%, still higher than its year ago 5.46% average.

It is believed that the drop in pending home sales and wider concerns in the housing market have pushed interest rates lower.

“The initial effects of the credit market turmoil that began in August are starting to emerge in housing statistics,” said Nothaft.

“New-home sales in August fell to the slowest pace in more than seven years and the median sales price had the largest 12-month decline since 1970. Moreover, August’s pending existing-home sales fell to the lowest level on record, which begins in 2001.”

The Fed plans to meet again on October 30-31 to discuss another possible interest rate cut, though that could hinge largely on tomorrow’s jobs report.

To obtain the average rates above, borrowers would need to pay roughly half a mortgage point, reflected as 0.5% of the loan amount.