Mortgage Rates and Home Sales Dip as Home Prices Rise

Over the past month, average mortgage rates trended higher as news of stronger growth has sent U.S. Treasury yields higher. The increase in rates has been small and average rates are still just above record lows set in November of 2012. Mortgage rates today on 30 year conventional home loans are averaging 3.61 percent, a slight increase from last week's average 30 year mortgage rate of 3.60 percent.

Record low rates and the highest home affordability in 40 years has finally helped the housing market recover from the worst bust since the depression. The National Association of Realtors reported existing home sales index took a dip in December 2012 but are still well above levels from a year ago as buyers are back in the market snapping up homes.

December's existing home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, town homes, condominiums and co-ops, declined 1.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.94 million. Home sales this December are 12.8 percent higher than last year when sales at 4.38 million.

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 ICB'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 #1661781

5.760%

15-Year Fixed

5.625%

$3,673

Includes 0.625 points for $2,500

Lender Fees: $1,173

$3,295 /mo

Next >

NMLS #757416

5.868%

15-Year Fixed

5.750%

$3,060

Includes 0.765 points for $3,060

Lender Fees: $0

$3,322 /mo

Next >

NMLS #1025894

5.886%

15-Year Fixed

5.750%

$3,512

Includes 0.703 points for $2,812

Lender Fees: $700

$3,322 /mo

Next >

NMLS #1067

5.891%

15-Year Fixed

5.750%

$3,652

Includes 0.913 points for $3,652

Lender Fees: $0

$3,322 /mo

Next >

NMLS #3030

6.532%

15-Year Fixed

6.375%

$4,000

Includes 1.000 points for $4,000

Lender Fees: $0

$3,458 /mo

Next >

NMLS #1661781

6.620%

30-Year Fixed

6.500%

$5,173

Includes 1.000 points for $4,000

Lender Fees: $1,173

$2,529 /mo

Next >

NMLS #1025894

6.735%

30-Year Fixed

6.625%

$4,564

Includes 0.966 points for $3,864

Lender Fees: $700

$2,562 /mo

Next >

NMLS #757416

6.822%

30-Year Fixed

6.750%

$2,968

Includes 0.742 points for $2,968

Lender Fees: $0

$2,595 /mo

Next >

NMLS #1067

6.838%

30-Year Fixed

6.750%

$3,620

Includes 0.905 points for $3,620

Lender Fees: $0

$2,595 /mo

Next >

NMLS #1661781

7.244%

5-Year ARM

7.125%

$4,977

Includes 0.951 points for $3,804

Lender Fees: $1,173

$2,695 /mo

Next >

NMLS #3030

7.338%

30-Year Fixed

7.250%

$3,500

Includes 0.875 points for $3,500

Lender Fees: $0

$2,729 /mo

Next >

Rate data provided by RateUpdate.com. Displayed by ICB, a division of 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.

Lawrence Yun, The NAR's Chief Economist had the following comments about the December report:

Record low mortgage interest rates clearly are helping many home buyers, but tight inventory and restrictive mortgage underwriting standards are limiting sales," he said. "The number of potential buyers who stayed on the sidelines accumulated during the recession, but they started entering the market early last year as their financial ability and confidence steadily grew, along with home prices. Likely job creation and household formation will continue to fuel that growth. Both sales and prices will again be higher in 2013.

Home prices increased in December, which is the tenth consecutive month of year over year home price gains. The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $180,800 in December, 11.5 percent above December 2011. The last time we saw ten consecutive months of an increase in prices was from August 2005 to May 2006 - the end of the housing boom.

Low refinance rates have also created a boom in housing refinancing as homeowners take advantage of the lowest rates in a generation. Freddie Mac recently reported homeowners on average got a refinance rate 1.8 percent lower when refinancing. Another interesting fact in Freddie Mac's report is 84 percent of homeowners refinancing either maintained or reduced their principal balance. This is a reversal from the housing boom era when the home was seen as a piggy bank to take money from when refinancing.

You can watch Lawrence Yun discuss home sales and home prices in this video: