US Interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, the most commonly used mortgage, fell to 4.70 percent yesterday from 4.79 percent over the same period last week, according to property website Zillow.com.
Interest rates of 30-year fixed mortgages increased to 4.82 percent early Friday before falling yesterday. Zillow said the last time it was at a current level was in early-December last year.
Rates of 15-year fixed mortgage also dropped to 4.13 percent from 4.23 percent on the prior week. The 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), which is set at 5-year fixed-rate and adjustable each following year, were down from last week’s 3.59 percent to 3.44 percent.
Recent housing data showed that mortgage market has benefited from the recent expiration of home buyer tax credits.
The Commerce Department said the US housing market recorded a one-and-a-half year high last month, but a fall in permits to a six-month low showed that it could only be a short-tem reaction to tax-credit-induced demand.
Those who want to avail the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit or the $6,500 credit for homeowners purchasing a new residence has to sign contracts and filed it until June 30 to close the sales.
Zillow said the total volume of home loan requests in the past weeks increased 4.4 percent from the prior week. Out of the last week’s request, Zillow recorded 2 percent were home equity loans, 31 percent were refinancing loans and 67 percent of the total requests were purchasing loans.