Mortgage rates hit record low - again

According to the Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) by Freddie Mac, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages (FRM) are down to 4.78 percent for the week ending April 30, 2009, from 4.80 percent last week. The 30-year FRM is now at the same record low set in April 7, 2009, the lowest ever recorded in Freddie Mac's survey since it began in 1970. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.06 percent. Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 4.80 percent this week, down from last week when it averaged 4.85 percent. This set another record, since the 5-year ARM is at the lowest it has been since Freddie Mac began tracking it in January 2005.

A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 5.73 percent. "Rates for fixed-rate mortgages hovered at record lows this week as ARM rates eased further," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "In aggregate, borrowers who refinanced during the first quarter reduced their mortgage payments by about $2.5 billion over the coming year." Oh yes, and not to feel left out of the good news gang, Nothaft added the obligatory: "The housing market may be edging towards a bottom."

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Matt Urbanovsky