The interest rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage held steady this week at a 60-year low while the 15-year fixed loan edged down to a new record low, mortgage finance company Freddie Mac said in its weekly rate snapshot.
Freddie's survey, out Thursday morning, showed that the rate lenders were offering to solid borrowers for a 15-year loan fell from 3.30% to 3.29% -- a statistically immaterial amount.
Borrowers would have paid 0.7% of the loan amount upfront in lender fees and points on the 30-year mortgage and 0.6% on the 15-year loan, Freddie Mac said.
The government-controlled loan buyer said start rates were up slightly on fixed-rate home loans.
Freddie surveys lenders Monday through early Wednesday each week. It asks them to report popular combinations of rates and fees that they are offering to borrowers with good credit and 20% down payments or that much home equity if they are refinancing.
Although the housing markets showed a glimmer of recovery in August, with sales up sharply, more than three-quarters of all home-loan applications are for refinances these days, according to the Mortgage Bankers Assn.
The volume of refis, which rose slightly last week, could get another pop from the Federal Reserve's newly announced program to load up on mortgage securities, which could drive down rates even further.
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-- E. Scott Reckard
Photo: Newly built homes in Corona. Credit: Konrad Fiedler / Bloomberg
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