Current Mortgage Rates Remain Low as Refinance Activity Declines

We continue to see low current mortgage rates as we head into May. Mortgage rates which have been hovering just above record lows increased slightly in the Weekly Application Survey released by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

In the survey, mortgage rates on 30 year conforming mortgages averaged 4.05% with 0.44 mortgage points for the week ending April 27, up from last week's average 30 year rate of 4.04% with 0.40 points. We will see rates decrease in next week's survey, in fact 30 year rates will probably drop below 4.00% since Treasury yields have declined since April 27Th.

15 year mortgage rates today made an all-time record low in the survey this week. Today's mortgage rates on 15 year conforming loans are averaging 3.31% with 0.41 points. 15 year rates will make another record low in next week's survey, thanks to lower bond yields.

Loan Type

Purchase Refinance with Cash out Refinance

State

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District Of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

FICO Score

Superior (780-850) Exceptional (760-779) Excellent (740-759) Very Good (720-739) Good (700-719) Above Average (680-699) Average (660-679) Fair (640-659) Need Improvement (620-639) Poor (350-620)

Loan Amount

$

Points

Up to 0 points Up to 0.5 points Up to 1 points Up to 1.5 points Up to 2 points Up to 2.5 points Up to 3 points

LTV

%

Loan Term

 15-Year Fixed  20-Year Fixed  30-Year Fixed  5-Year ARM  7-Year ARM  10-Year ARM

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The lenders whose rates and other terms appear on this chart are MRC's advertising partners. They provide their rate information to our data partner RateUpdate.com. Unless adjusted by the consumer, advertisers are sorted by APR from lowest to highest. For any advertising partners that do not provide their rate they are listed in advertisement display units at the bottom of the chart. Advertising partners may not pay to improve the frequency priority or prominence of their display. The interest rates, annual percentage rates and other terms advertised here are estimates provided by those advertising partners based on the information you entered above and do not bind. Any lender Monthly payment amounts stated do not include amounts for taxes and insurance premiums. The actual payment obligation will be greater if taxes and insurance are included. Although our data partner RateUpdate.com collects the information from the financial institutions themselves, the accuracy of the data cannot be guaranteed. Rates may change without notice and can change intraday. Some of the information contained in the rate tables including but not limited to special marketing notes is provided directly by the lenders. Please verify the rates and offers before applying for a loan with the financial institution themselves. No rate is binding until locked by a lender.

Lender

APR / Rate

Fees / Points

Payment

NMLS #757416

4.897%

15-Year Fixed

4.750%

$3,912

Includes 0.978 points for $3,912

Lender Fees: $0

$3,112 /mo

Next >

NMLS #1025894

5.177%

15-Year Fixed

5.000%

$4,692

Includes 0.998 points for $3,992

Lender Fees: $700

$3,164 /mo

Next >

NMLS #757416

5.704%

30-Year Fixed

5.625%

$3,468

Includes 0.867 points for $3,468

Lender Fees: $0

$2,303 /mo

Next >

NMLS #1025894

5.972%

30-Year Fixed

5.875%

$4,192

Includes 0.873 points for $3,492

Lender Fees: $700

$2,367 /mo

Next >

NMLS #399799

5.972%

30-Year Fixed

5.875%

$4,347

Includes 0.755 points for $3,020

Lender Fees: $1,327

$2,367 /mo

Next >

Rate data provided by RateUpdate.com. Displayed by Mortgage Research Center, NMLS #1907, Equal Housing Opportunity. Payments do not include taxes and insurance premiums. Actual payments will be greater with taxes and insurance included. Rate and product details.

5/1 adjustable mortgage rates increased to 2.87% this week, an increase from last week's average 5 year adjustable rate of 2.81%. As with fixed rates, adjustable rates will also decrease in the coming days since bond yields are lower.

Low mortgage rates are slowly bringing home buyers back to the market as the MBA's index that monitors mortgage applications for home purchases increased 2.9% from one week earlier.

The MBA's Refinance Index, which measures applications for mortgage refinances declined this week. The Refinance Index decreased 0.7% from one week earlier.

Although refinance rates remained low many homeowners in a position to refinance have done so already.  The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 72.6 percent of total mortgage applications, down from 73.4 percent the previous week.

There are also millions of homeowners who would like to refinance their loans but are unable to do so because of not having enough equity in the home or even having negative equity, owing more than the home is worth.

Until housing prices start increasing again many people are stuck with a higher mortgage than then they can get today. Home prices won't move higher until the economy is strong and consumer confidence in housing is back.

When the economy has legs and confidence is higher interest rates and mortgage rates will move higher causing many to miss out on record low mortgage rates today.