[1]The Federal Housing Finance Agency [2](FHFA) recently released their Monthly Interest Rate Survey [3] (MIRS) finding that on a national level, interest rates on conventional purchase-money mortgages decreased from April to May, according to several indices of new mortgage contracts.
The survey found that the national average contract mortgage rate for the purchase of previously occupied homes by combined lenders index was 3.75 percent for loans closed in late May. This percentage was down three basis points from 3.78 percent in April.
The average interest rate on conventional, 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages of $417,000 or less was 3.90 percent, down three points from 3.93 in April, the FHFA reported.
The FHFA also reported that the effective interest rate on all mortgage loans was 3.90 percent in May, down four points from 3.94 percent in April. The average loan amount for all loans was $310,900 in May, up $300 from $310,600 in April.
The FHFA’s MIR Survey provides monthly information on interest rates loan terms, and house prices by property type (all, new, previously occupied), by loan type (fixed-or adjustable-rate), and by lender type (savings associations, mortgage companies, commercial banks, and savings banks), as well as information on 15-year and 30-year fixed-rate loans. Additionally, the survey provides quarterly information on conventional loans by major metropolitan area and by Federal Home Loan Bank district.
The FHFA surveyed a sample of mortgage lenders to report the terms and conditions on all single-family, fully amortized, purchase-money, nonfarm loans that they close during the last five business days of the month. The survey excludes FHA-insured and VA-guaranteed loans, multifamily loans, mobile home loans, and loans created by refinancing another mortgage.
Click here [3] to view the FHFA's Monthly Interest Rate Survey.