Mortgage rates remained relatively flat this week, according to the latest weekly survey from mortgage financier Freddie Mac.
The benchmark 30-year fixed averaged 5.10 percent for the week ending January 29, down from 5.12 percent last week and 5.68 percent a year ago.
The 15-year fixed averaged 4.80 percent, unchanged from last week and five basis points below its year-ago average of 5.17 percent.
Meanwhile, the five-year ARM inched up to 5.27 percent from 5.24 percent last week and 5.32 percent a year ago.
The one-year ARM slipped two basis points to 4.90 percent, sticking below its year-ago average of 5.05 percent.
These interest rates are good for conforming mortgages with a loan-to-value of 80 percent.
“Both the S&P/Case-Shiller® 20-city composite index, which registered an 18 percent annual decline through November, and the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) sales data, down 15 percent in December from a year ago, indicate sharply lower house prices across many U.S. metropolitan areas,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac chief economist.
“At the same time, interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages reached a 50-year low toward the end of December. These two factors contributed to housing affordability reaching its highest level since 1973, as measured by the NAR’s monthly affordability index and help to explain the 7.0 percent increase in existing home sales in December.”
However, jumbo loans are still much higher than their conforming brethren, with a 30-year fixed pricing in the 7-8 percent range.
Homebuilders are also pitching their own pricing specials, with Toll Brothers the latest to offer below-market rates.
The struggling firm is touting fixed conforming rates at 3.99 percent for new purchases for the most creditworthy of borrowers.
But purchase applications are still quite flat, aside from distressed sales, and refinance applications plunged last week after what looked to be a resurgence in lending.
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