U.S. mortgage rates hardly changed for the second consecutive week ended Thursday July 31, according to the latest results of the weekly primary mortgage market survey conducted by Freddie Mac, the government backed lending giant.
This week's survey revealed that rates declined slightly from previous week's figures.
The average 30-year-fixed mortgage rates slightly inched down to 4.12 percent this week from the 4.13 percent of last week's. Last year during this time, the rate was 4.39 percent.
The average 15-year-fixed mortgage rates went down 0.07 percentage points to 3.23 percent from last week's 3.26 percent. It averaged 3.43 percent at the same time, last year.
The five-year treasury-indexed, hybrid adjustable mortgage rate averaged 3.01 percent, 0.5 percentage points above last week's 2.99 percent. The rate was 3.18 percent a year ago.
The average one-year treasury-indexed adjustable mortgage rate also fell 0.4 points to 2.38 percent, down from last week's 2.29 percent. The rates averaged 2.64 percent at the same time last year.
"Mortgage rates were little changed this week with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate at 4.12 percent, just a basis point lower from the previous week. Meanwhile, on Wednesday afternoon the yield on the 10-year Treasury surged as data showed gross domestic product for the second quarter at a 4.0 percent annualized rate, above expectations," Frank Nothaft, chief economist at Freddie Mac, said in a statement.
While mortgage rates remained largely flat, applications for home loans declined, according to figures published by the Mortgage Banking Association (MBA).
The total loan application volume fell 2.2 percent this week. More people applied for refinancing mortgages, which accounted for 53 percent of all the applications. There was hardly any mortgage activity for new home purchases with the index rising just 0.2 percent, the Washington Post cited numbers from the MBA.
Mortgage rates have remained at record lows. Since the past two weeks, they have been holding steady with just slight declines. The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that it would wait for better economic growth before it starts raising short term interest rates. Home prices have also been steady, gaining modestly in May, according to USA Today.
All the current housing factors indicate better affordability. In a recent pending home sales report, the National Association of Realtors said that the slow price rise and increasing inventory could give the housing market the right boost.
"Activity is notably higher than earlier this year as prices have moderated and inventory levels have improved," Lawrence Yun, chief economist at NAR, said in a statement.
"The good news is that price appreciation has decreased to its slowest pace since March 20121 behind much needed increases in inventory. With rents rising 4 percent annually, potential buyers are less likely to experience sticker shock and can make smart decisions on whether or not it makes sense to buy or continue renting," he added.
