I'm Greg McBride with Bankrate.com and here is your weekly look at mortgage rates.
Both fixed and adjustable rate mortgage rates pulled back to multi-week lows on renewed concerns about the global economy and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's reassurances that stimulative bond-buying will continue. The average rate on the benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage retreated to a 5-week low of 3.73 percent. The average 15-year fixed rate and jumbo 30-year fixed rate both did the same, settling at 2.96 percent and 4.1 percent, respectively.
Mortgage rates had moved modestly higher in recent weeks on worries that the Fed would prematurely curtail their purchases of long-term bonds. But Bernanke cast those notions aside with this week's Congressional testimony. Increased volatility in the stock market also served as a catalyst for this week's downstroke in mortgage rates, as investors shuffled back into the perceived safe-haven of government- and mortgage-backed bonds.
Be sure to shop around for the best mortgage terms. To find the lowest mortgage rates in your area, use the free search engine at Bankrate.com.
I'm Greg McBride.
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