30-year mortgage rate at record low 3.91% (by Ruth Mantell)
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The average rate on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has reached a record low, falling to 3.91% in the week ended Dec. 22 from 3.94% in the prior week, Freddie Mac said Thursday. These data go back to 1971. To obtain the latest rate, payment of an average 0.7 point was required. A point is 1% of the mortgage amount, charged in prepaid interest. "Rates on 30-year fixed mortgages have been at or below 4% for the last eight weeks and now are almost 0.9 percentage points below where they were at the beginning of the year, which means that today's homebuyers are paying over $1,200 less per year on a $200,000 loan," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist, in a statement. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage remained at 3.21%, a record low set in the prior week. These data go back to 1991. Adjustable-rate mortgages are also at records lows, with the average rate on the 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage ticking down to 2.85% in the latest week from 2.86% in the prior week, and the 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM decreasing to 2.77% from 2.81%. These data go back to 2005 and 1984, respectively.