Freddie Mac: Mortgage Rates Still Extremely Attractive

(RTTNews) - Mortgage rates remained relatively flat this week.

Releasing the results of its primary mortgage market survey, Freddie Mac said that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage or FRM averaged 3.42 percent for the week ended October 6, unchanged from last week. A year ago at this time, the average rate was 3.76 percent.

The Freddie Mac survey also showed that the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.72 percent this week, unchanged from last week. A year ago at this time, the rate for the 15-year loans averaged 2.99 percent.

The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage or ARM averaged 2.80 percent, down from 2.81 percent last week. It was 2.88 percent a year ago.

"The 10-year Treasury yield leaped to a two-week high following reports of the European Central Bank retreating from its bond-buying program ahead of its initial March deadline. In contrast, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage remained unchanged at 3.42 percent. Over the past two weeks, mortgage rates have remained fairly flat while Treasury yields have fallen and risen. This Friday's jobs report will provide clarity on whether or not mortgage rates follow the recent upward trend in Treasury yields," said Sean Becketti, chief economist, Freddie Mac.