Mortgage Rates Steady Amid Mixed Sales Reports

It's been another lazy week for mortgage rates, with slight—albeit mixed—movements all around, market reports indicate.

In its latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey, Freddie Mac recorded a 4.13 percent average interest rate (0.6 point) for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) product for the week ending July 24, unchanged from last week's survey results.

A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.31 percent.

The 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.26 percent (0.6 point), up a few basis points from 3.23 percent last week.

Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) saw a similar trend. According to Freddie Mac, the 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid ARM averaged 2.99 percent (0.5 point) for the week, up slightly from the last survey, while the 1-year ARM stayed flat at 2.39 percent (0.4 point).

The latest movement—or lack of movement—among interest rates follows news of mixed activity in the housing market in June.

On Tuesday, the National Association of Realtors reported a 2.6 percent pickup in existing-home sales throughout the month to a level of 5.04 million, the highest pace since October 2013. Only two days later, the Department of Commerce reported a decline in new home sales following a huge revision to May figures.

While shifting metrics in housing usually exert some influence on interest rates, finance site Bankrate.com says there are even larger forces currently keeping rates in a narrow range.

“Despite the Fed's ongoing tapering of their bond purchases, continued improvement in the job market, and signs of a rebound in economic growth after a dismal first quarter, the flow of money from overseas investors into U.S. government bonds is keeping a lid on bond yields and mortgage rates,” Bankrate said.

In its own national survey, Bankrate clocked the 30-year fixed average at 4.28 percent for the week, reflecting a small decline from last week. The 15-year fixed average moved up slightly, meanwhile, coming to 3.41 percent.