Mortgage rates fall to 4.16 percent
Mortgage rates for a 30-year fixed mortgage fell four basis points to 4.16 percent since last week. Mortgage rates have been falling steadily since the beginning of 2014.
This chart shows average 15- and 30-year mortgage rates since 2007. Mortgage rates climbed in 2013 but have fallen slowly since the beginning of this year.
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The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) publishes the results of a weekly applications survey that covers roughly 50 percent of all residential mortgage originations and tracks the average interest rate for 30 year and 15 year fixed rate mortgages as well as the volume of both purchase and refinance applications.
The purchase application index has been highlighted as a particularly important data series as it very broadly captures the demand side of residential real estate for both new and existing home purchases.
The latest data is showing that the 30 year fixed rate mortgage rates (from FHA and conforming GSE data) decreased 4 basis points to 4.16% since last week while the purchase application volume declined 4% and the refinance application volume declined 3% over the same period.
The following chart shows the average interest rate for 30 year and 15 year fixed rate mortgages since 2006 as well as the purchase, refinance and composite loan volumes (click for larger dynamic full-screen version).