Mortgage rates overall hit a new bottom for 2017 this week, with the 30-year, fixed rate averaging 3.78 percent, a decrease from 3.82 percent the week prior, according to Freddie Mac's recently released Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®). The 15-year, fixed rate averaged 3.08 percent, down from 3.12 percent the week prior, while the 5-year, Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable rate averaged 3.15 percent, up from 3.14 percent the week prior.

"The 10-year Treasury yield fell nine basis points this week, reaching a new 2017 low for a second consecutive week," says Sean Becketti, chief economist at Freddie Mac. "The 30-year mortgage rate followed, dropping four basis points to a year-to-date low of 3.78 percent."
 
The movement of mortgage rates is related, to an extent, to the movement of the key interest rate, which is set by the Federal Reserve and will be voted on at its quarterly meeting in September. Employment data for August suggest the key rate, and mortgage rates, as a result, will stay low.
 
"It has been a humdrum economy so far this year, seesawing between good to tolerable, yet certainly not great," said Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), in a statement on the August jobs report. "Nonetheless, the 12-month job gains total still tops 2 million, and that will likely grow household formation and home-buying demand. The job figures…assures that interest rates will remain low for a longer period."
 
Source: Freddie Mac

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