Mortgages
- 4.59% (30-year fixed)
- 0.38 (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 Aug. 25, 2010.
Mortgage rates fell for the fifth time in six weeks.
The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell 4 basis points, to 4.59 percent. A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.
This week's average 15-year fixed-rate -- a popular option for refinancing -- fell 3 basis points, to 4.08 percent.
The average jumbo 30-year fixed fell 4 basis points to a Bankrate record-low 5.22 percent.
Adjustable-rate mortgages split this week. The one-year adjustable-rate mortgage held steady at 4.8 percent for the sixth straight week. Meanwhile, the popular 5/1 ARM dropped 10 basis points, to 3.85 percent -- a new record low in the Bankrate survey.
Mortgage applications rose a seasonally adjusted 4.9 percent when compared to a week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Applications for purchase edged up 0.6 percent, while refinance applications increased 5.7 percent.
In other mortgage news:
Existing home sales plunged 27.2 percent in July when compared to June, and fell 25.5 percent year over year, according to the National Association of Realtors. Total existing home sales are now at their lowest level since NAR began tracking them in 1999, while single-family sales fell to their lowest level since 1995.
Inventory levels jumped from an 8.9-month supply (at the current sales pace) in June to a 12.5-month supply in July.
New home sales dropped 12.4 percent in July when compared to June and sank 32.4 percent year over year, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.
Sales are now at their lowest point since the Commerce Department began tracking them in 1963. There is a 9.1-month supply of homes available at current sales rates.
-- Chris Kissell