Refinance Activity Higher Today as Mortgage Rates Hit New Lows

Homeowners that are not underwater on their mortgages and have enough equity to refinance their loan are doing so thanks to record low mortgage rates today. In the Weekly Application Survey released by the Mortgage Bankers Association, refinance applications are up 5.6 percent from the prior week.

With current fixed conforming 30 year mortgage rates averaging 3.83 percent and 15 year rates averaging 3.12 percent it's no surprise homeowners are taking advantage of low rates. Fixed mortgage rates have made record lows the past three weeks and refinance applications have increased each of the past three weeks.

Unfortunately today's low mortgage rates aren't bringing home buyers into the market as the MBA's purchase index showed a decrease of 3.0 percent from the previous week.

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 #2641203

5.523%

15-Year Fixed

5.375%

$3,876

Includes 0.969 points for $3,876

Lender Fees: $0

$3,242 /mo

Next >

NMLS #401822

5.554%

15-Year Fixed

5.250%

$8,000

Includes 1.000 points for $4,000

Lender Fees: $4,000

$3,216 /mo

Next >

NMLS #1025894

5.667%

15-Year Fixed

5.490%

$4,600

Includes 0.975 points for $3,900

Lender Fees: $700

$3,267 /mo

Next >

NMLS #6606

5.904%

15-Year Fixed

5.750%

$3,976

Includes 0.994 points for $3,976

Lender Fees: $0

$3,322 /mo

Next >

NMLS #2641203

6.701%

30-Year Fixed

6.625%

$3,128

Includes 0.782 points for $3,128

Lender Fees: $0

$2,562 /mo

Next >

NMLS #1025894

6.720%

30-Year Fixed

6.625%

$3,916

Includes 0.804 points for $3,216

Lender Fees: $700

$2,562 /mo

Next >

NMLS #6606

6.844%

30-Year Fixed

6.750%

$3,880

Includes 0.970 points for $3,880

Lender Fees: $0

$2,595 /mo

Next >

NMLS #3030

6.869%

15-Year Fixed

6.750%

$3,000

Includes 0.750 points for $3,000

Lender Fees: $0

$3,540 /mo

Next >

NMLS #401822

6.884%

30-Year Fixed

6.750%

$5,495

Includes 0.875 points for $3,500

Lender Fees: $1,995

$2,595 /mo

Next >

NMLS #3030

7.589%

30-Year Fixed

7.500%

$3,500

Includes 0.875 points for $3,500

Lender Fees: $0

$2,797 /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.

Average 30 year conforming mortgage rates (loans up to $417,000) in the Weekly Application Survey decreased to 3.93 percent for the week ending May 18, 2012, down from last week's average of 3.96 percent. This week's average 30 year conforming rate is the lowest point in history in the survey.

30 year FHA mortgage rates (mortgages backed by the FHA) decreased to 3.73%, down from the previous week's average of 3.75%. This is the lowest average FHA mortgage rate in history in the MBA's application survey.

Jumbo mortgage rates (loans over $417,000) increased to 4.25 percent, up from the previous week's average rate of 4.20 percent. Back during the financial crisis when it was next to impossible to get a jumbo mortgage the spread between conforming mortgage rates and jumbo mortgage rates was 1.5 percent to 2 percent. Now the spread is only 0.32 percent or 32 basis points.

The average rate for 15 year conforming loans remained unchanged this week at 3.26 percent which is still an all-time record low rate. If you're thinking about refinancing you should really consider a 15 year loan. You'll save a ton of money in mortgage interest payments over the life of a loan with a 15 year loan instead of a 30 year loan. You can use a mortgage calculator to figure out the savings.

5 year adjustable mortgage rates were higher in this week's survey. The current average 5 year adjustable mortgage rate is at 2.83 percent, up from the prior week's average 5 year rate of 2.80%.

I personally wouldn't get a 5 year loan these days with fixed rates being so low. If you're not planning on staying in a home more than a few years I wouldn't even buy a home since home prices probably won't be increasing over the next few years. Even if prices do increase don't expect much of a gain to offset the cost of buying and selling a home.