The average interest rates for conventional 30-year fixed rate mortgages moved from 4.63 percent in September to 4.58 percent in October according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) Monthly Interest Rate Survey, a decrease of five basis points.
The decrease in October follows September’s increase of 14 basis points and was the first decline in interest rates in five months
The results of the survey reflect loans closed during the last five working days of October from 33 lenders and data from 5,773 mortgage loans. Since mortgage loans typically take 30-45 days to close, the reported rates reflect market conditions in mid to late September.
The National Average Contract Mortgage Rate for the Purchase of Previously Occupied Homes by Combined Lenders, used to index some ARM contracts, decreased to 4.32 percent from 4.36 percent in September.
The effective mortgage interest rate, which includes initial fees and charges over the first ten years of a mortgage loan also decreased, falling to 4.49 percent from 4.51 percent in September.
The average loan amount for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage was $269,000 in October, down from $270,100 in September, a decline of 0.8 percent.