Fixed-mortgage rates dipped this past week as uncertain economic data indicated a slowdown in manufacturing, Freddie Mac said in its latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
The 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage has seesawed around 3.5% for the past two months, coming in at 3.54%, down from 3.57% last week and 3.98% a year earlier.
The 15-year, FRM also decreased to 2.74% from 2.76%, while falling from 3.21% last year.
Meanwhile, the 5-year Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 2.65%, down from 2.68% last week and down from 2.86% a year ago.
Additionally, the 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM rose to 2.63% this week, compared to 2.62% last week and was also down from 2.78% a year earlier.
“Fixed mortgage rates dipped slightly while the manufacturing industry showed signs of slowing,” Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist of Freddie Mac.
He added, “Regionally, both the Chicago and Milwaukee purchasing manager reports for March fell below the market consensus forecast. On a national scale, both the ISM manufacturing and non-manufacturing indexes also showed reductions in growth.”
Bankrate data also shows mortgage rates tumbling.
Bankrate’s 30-year, FRM dropped to 3.73%, down from 3.75% a week earlier.
In addition, the 15-year, FRM declined to 2.95%, down from 2.97% last week, while the 5/1 ARM rose to 2.72%, up from 2.71%.
