Nearly three months after first settling into the 4.10 percent to 4.20 percent range, long-term fixed mortgage rates continue to show little movement.
According to Freddie Mac's [1] weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey [2], the 30-year fixed mortgage rate this week came to an average 4.14 percent (0.7 point), up slightly from 4.12 percent in the last survey.
As of the latest survey, the 30-year average fixed rate remains below its year-ago level of 4.40 percent.
The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) showed a little more life, climbing 4 basis points to 3.27 percent (0.6 point) this week.
Frank Nothaft, VP and chief economist at Freddie Mac, said interest rates have had little news to react on this week, though the few economic reports that have come out—ISM's non-manufacturing survey for July and the Census Bureau's estimate of factory orders in June—were promising.
"The two reports signal steady economic growth in the third quarter of the year," Nothaft said.
Meanwhile, adjustable rates moved down over the week, according to Freddie Mac's data.
The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 2.98 percent (0.5 point) for the week, dropping from 3.01 percent a week ago, while the 1-year ARM averaged 2.35 percent (0.5 point), falling from 2.38 percent previously, Freddie Mac reported.
Rate movements were similar in Bankrate.com's [3] weekly survey, which showed the 30-year average fixed rate rising 1 point to 4.29 percent, with the 15-year fixed unchanged at 3.40 percent.
"Mortgage rates continue to exemplify the 'dog days of summer.' Even a bevy of economic releases and a Federal Reserve meeting [4] in the preceding week did little to jolt interest rates to life, with good economic news counteracted by global tensions," Bankrate said in a release [5]. "As a result, both bond yields and mortgage rates have been held in check."