Average fixed rate mortgages in the US fell to its lowest level this week, with the rates of 30-year and 15-year loans falling to 3.88 percent and 3.11 percent respectively.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said this was due to low yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which is a benchmark for mortgages. It noted that the Treasury yield plunged two percent on 10 April, as the yield on Italian and Spanish bonds increased.
“There was a tempering of optimism,” said Keith Gumbinger, Vice President of mortgage data firm HSH Associates. “The market was getting a little ahead of itself about where the economy was domestically and globally.”
Meanwhile, mortgage applications in the country were down for eight consecutive weeks as fewer homes were refinanced. But the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said there has been a sharp rise in average mortgage size, suggesting a bigger appetite for home loans.
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