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Mortgage rates barely budged heading into the Independence Day weekend, keeping them below last year's levels.
According to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) product was 4.12 percent (0.5 point) for the week ending July 3, down 2 basis points from the final June survey.
Rates remained down year-over-year for the second straight week, "which should provide some help with homebuyer affordability in many markets," said Frank Nothaft, chief economist for Freddie Mac. Last year, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.29 percent.
The 15-year FRM, meanwhile, was unchanged at 3.22 percent (0.5 point).
Adjustable rates followed similar patterns, with the 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaging 2.98 percent (0.4 point), flat from last week, and the 1-year ARM averaged 2.38 percent (0.4 point), just down from 2.40 percent previously.
Interest rates also firmed up in Bankrate.com's weekly national survey, with the 30-year fixed staying flat at 4.28 percent and the 15-year fixed dipping just a point to 3.39 percent. The 5/1 ARM remained unchanged in Bankrate's survey, hovering at 3.33 percent.
With an encouraging jobs report also landing on Thursday morning, half of the experts polled for Bankrate's weekly Rate Trend Index expect interest rates to lift over the next week.
