Fixed-mortgage rates inched down for the second consecutive week, aligning with weak employment reports, Freddie Mac said in its latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
“Mortgage rates fell further this week following a lackluster employment report for March. The economy added just 88,000 net new jobs last month, about one-third as many as February and the fewest since June 2012,” said Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist of Freddie Mac.
He continued,”In addition, approximately 496,000 people left the workforce causing the unemployment rate to fall to 7.6%. Further, average hourly earnings were unchanged in March, indicating income growth remains tepid.”
The 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage continued to drop, coming in at 3.43%, down from 3.54% last week and 3.88% a year earlier.
Similarly, the 15-year, FRM also slipped to 2.65% from 2.74%, significantly lower than the 3.11% level reached last year.
The 5-year Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate mortgage came in at 2.62%, slightly down from 2.65% last week and a drop from 2.85% a year ago.
Meanwhile, the 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM fell back to 2.62% this week, after increasing to 2.63% last week and falling from 2.80% a year earlier.
Additionally, Bankrate data shows mortgage rates slipping.
Bankrate’s 30-year, FRM dropped to 3.64%, down from 3.73% a week earlier.
The 15-year, FRM ticked down to 2.89%, compared to 2.95% a week earlier, while the 5/1 ARM fell to 2.70% from 2.72%.
