FHFA: Average interest rate for 30-year mortgage inches up

By Kerri Ann Panchuk
• May 29, 2012 • 9:06am

The Federal Housing Finance Agency reports the average interest rate on a conventional, 30-year fixed-rate mortgage of $417,000 or less grew 9 basis points to 4.21% in April. 

The interest rate reported by FHFA is determined 30 to 45 days before a loan closes. Therefore, the latest rates reflect market conditions that prevailed in mid- to late-March, but on transactions closing in late April.

The contract rate on the composite of all fixed and adjustable-rate mortgages hit 3.93% in April, up 4-basis points from 3.89% in March — though the FHFA cautioned there is "insufficient sample size" for ARMs.

Meanwhile, the effective interest rate, which shows the amortization of initial fees and charges, hit 4.03% in April, up 10-basis points from 3.93% in March.

Initial fees and charges in April represented 0.9% of the loan balance, which is down 3-basis points from March.

The average term for a mortgage is unchanged at 27.3 years. The average loan-to-price ratio is 75.3%, up 0.5%.

The average loan amount was $256,200 in April, up $9,100 from $247,100 in March.

kpanchuk@housingwire.com

More In Lending

Fixed-mortgage rates continued to climb for the third straight week, with the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage slightly increasing to 3.59% from 3.51% last week, Freddie Mac said in a report on Thursday.

"The refinance index has fallen almost 19% over the past two weeks and is back to its lowest level since late March," said Mike Fratantoni, Mortgage Bankers Association vice president of research and economics.