Mortgage Rates Mostly Fall This Week; 30-Year Fixed At 4.97%

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES Mortgage rates mostly fell this week, with the average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages again retreating below the psychologically significant 5% mark, according to Freddie Mac's (FRE) weekly survey of mortgage rates.
Recovery in the U.S. housing market has been choppy. Demand for new and used homes, after strengthening earlier last year, has dropped in recent months because of cold weather and continuing joblessness. New-home sales unexpectedly hit a record low in January, the Commerce Department said last week, while existing-home sales slumped.
Treasury yields were generally flat in the past week; mortgage rates tend to follow the yields.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.97% for the week ended Thursday, down from last week's 5.05% average and 5.15% a year ago. Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages were 4.33%, down from 4.4% last week and 4.72% a year ago.
Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 4.11%, lower than last week's 4.16% and last year's 5.08%. One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs were 4.27%, up from 4.15% last week but down from 4.86% a year earlier.
To obtain the rates, the fixed-rate mortgages required payment of an average 0.7 point and the adjustable-rate mortgages required an average 0.6 point. A point is 1% of the mortgage amount, charged as prepaid interest.
-By Joan E. Solsman, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2291; joan.solsman@dowjones.com
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