Federal Housing Finance Agency Reports Mortgage Interest Rates

The Federal Housing Finance Agency today reported that the National Average Contract Mortgage Rate for the Purchase of Previously Occupied Homes by Combined Lenders, used as an index in some ARM contracts, was 4.80 percent based on loans closed in April. This is a decrease of 0.04 percent from the previous month. Complete data can be found at www.fhfa.gov by clicking here.

The average interest rate on conventional, 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage loans of $417,000 or less decreased 7 basis points to 4.99 percent in April. These rates are calculated from the FHFA’s Monthly Interest Rate Survey of purchase-money mortgages (see technical note). These results reflect loans closed during the April 25-29 period. Typically, the interest rate is determined 30 to 45 days before the loan is closed. Thus, the reported rates depict market conditions prevailing in mid- to late-March.

The contract rate on the composite of all mortgage loans (fixed- and adjustable-rate) was 4.80 percent in April, down 4 basis points from 4.84 percent in March. The effective interest rate, which reflects the amortization of initial fees and charges, was 4.93 percent in April, down 5 basis points from 4.98 percent in March. This report contains no data on adjustable-rate mortgages due to insufficient sample size.

Initial fees and charges were 0.88 percent of the loan balance in April, down 0.07 percent from 0.95 in February. Twenty-eight percent of the purchase-money mortgage loans originated in April were "no-point" mortgages, up from 25 percent in March. The average term was 27.8 years in April, up 0.2 years from 27.6 years in March. The average loan-toprice ratio in April was 75.8 percent, up 0.3 percent from 75.5 percent in March. The average loan amount was $204,400 in April, down $4,200 from $208,600 in March.

To read this press release at www.fhfa.gov, click here.