Mortgages
- 4.74% (30-year fixed)
- 0.39 (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 July 21, 2010.
Mortgage rates returned to record lows this week.
The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell 3 basis points, to 4.74 percent. A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point. The rate marks a return to a record low in the nearly 25-year history of the weekly Bankrate survey. The all-time low mark of 4.74 percent was first set two weeks ago.
This week's average 15-year fixed-rate -- a popular option for refinancing -- fell 5 basis points, to a record-low 4.18 percent.
The average jumbo 30-year fixed sank 7 basis points, to 5.43 percent. That too, is an all-time Bankrate low.
Adjustable-rate mortgages also fell this week. The one-year adjustable-rate mortgage edged down 1 basis point, to 4.8 percent. Meanwhile, the popular 5/1 ARM fell 6 basis points, to a record low of 4.06 percent.
Mortgage applications rose a seasonally adjusted 7.6 percent when compared to a week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Applications for new purchase rose 3.4 percent. Meanwhile, refinance applications climbed 8.6 percent.
In other mortgage news, housing starts fell 5 percent in June when compared to one month earlier and were off 5.8 percent year over year, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Building permits rose 2.1 percent when compared to May, but were down 2.3 percent year over year.
-- Chris Kissell