Mortgage Rates Decline on Weak Jobs Data

According to a report in the wall street journal,

Mortgage rates in the U.S. followed long-term bond yields lower in the past week after a disappointing June jobs report, according to Freddie Mac's weekly survey of mortgage rates.

"The economy added 18,000 jobs in June, well below the market consensus forecast, and the unemployment rate rose to 9.2%, the highest since December 2010," said Freddie Mac Chief Economist Frank Nothaft.

Mortgage rates generally track Treasury yields, which have slid below 3% amid the uncertain economic environment.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 4.51% in the week ended Thursday, down from 4.60% the previous week and 4.57% a year earlier. Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 3.65% from 3.75% last week and 4.06% a year earlier.

Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 3.29%, slightly lower than last week's 3.30% and down from 3.85% a year earlier. One-year Treasury-indexed ARM rates fell to 2.95% from 3.01% last week and 3.74% a year ago.

To obtain the rates, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages required an average payment of 0.7 point and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages required an average 0.6 point payment. Five-year adjustable rate mortgages required an average 0.6 point payment, while one-year adjustable rate mortgages required an average 0.5 point payment.A point is 1% of the mortgage amount, charged as prepaid interest.

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