Mortgages
- 5.07% (30-year fixed)
- 0.4 (average points)
Here's a look at the state of mortgage rates from Bankrate.com's weekly national survey of large banks and thrifts conducted April 13, 2011.
After several weeks of upward movement, mortgage rates barely budged -- and in no consistent direction -- in the latest Bankrate survey. The movement came as Freddie Mac released a relatively optimistic forecast for the housing market for the remainder of 2011.
The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dipped to 5.07 percent, a decline of 1 basis point from the previous week. A basis point is one-hundredth of 1 percentage point.
Other mortgages were similarly steady. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage rose by 1 basis point, to 4.28 percent. And 30-year jumbo mortgages, or generally those for more than $417,000, averaged 5.55 percent, compared to 5.57 percent a week earlier.
In the adjustable-mortgage market there was a bit more volatility, with the 5/1 ARM falling 4 basis points to 3.83 percent. With a 5/1 ARM, the mortgage rate is fixed for the first five years and adjusted annually thereafter.
Although housing remains a depressed industry by most measures, there are signs that things are beginning to thaw, mortgage giant Freddie Mac said in its April 2011 U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook, released Wednesday.
Noting that in March, unemployment fell to 8.8 percent, the Freddie Mac report said: "The encouraging labor market report coupled with high homebuyer affordability should translate into a home-sales pick up, starting this spring."
The report, authored by Freddie Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft, added: "Look for home sales to be up about 5 percent in 2011 compared with 2010, on a calendar year basis."
Find out what your monthly mortgage payment could be using Bankrate's mortgage calculator.
-- Gregg Fields