The 30-year fixed mortgage rate on Zillow (Z) is 3.39%, down 11 basis points from 3.5% at this same time last week.
On Thursday, Freddie Mac and Bankrate are due to release their mortgage rate surveys, which should give an additional feel for the direction mortgage rates are headed.
Zillow’s data comes from mortgage quotes submitted daily to potential borrowers on the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace website. It is not a mortgage rate survey like those conducted by Freddie Mac or Bankrate.
But the decline seen on Zillow, bringing rates close to record lows experienced earlier this summer, comes on the heels of the Federal Open Market Committee minutes, which suggests the Federal Reserve is more supportive of quantitative easing than the market had expected, said Erin Lantz, director of Zillow Mortgage Marketplace.
“Now that rates have returned to the low plateau where they’ve spent most of the summer, we expect rates to remain close to this equilibrium this coming week as the market awaits more significant events in the first half of September,” Lantz said.
Last week, the Freddie Mac survey showed the 30-year FRM averaged 3.66% for the week ending Aug. 23. That was up from the previous week’s 3.62%. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.22%.
The 15-year FRM, a popular refinancing choice, averaged 2.89% for the week ending Aug. 23, ticking up from 2.88%, according to Freddie’s survey. A year ago, the average rate for a 15-year FRM was 3.44%.
The contract interest rate for the composite of all fixed and adjustable-rate mortgages hit 3.65% in July, down 2 basis points from 3.67% in June, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said Tuesday.
@communicatorKLC
