My Real Estate Blog

30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.23% with an average 0.8 point for the week ending October 28, 2010, up from last week when it averaged 4.21%. Last year at this time, the 30-year averaged 5.03%.

5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.41% this week, with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.45%. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 4.42%.

Mixed economic data releases left mortgage rates little changed this week. Consumer confidence increased slightly in October, according to The Conference Board , but still remains at low levels. Based on the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite index, house prices fell 0.3% between July and August, while the purchase-only index by the Federal Housing Finance Agency showed a 0.4% gain over the same period.

Historically low rates are supporting home sales and reducing the excess stock of homes available for sale. Existing home sales, including condominiums and co-ops, rose for the second consecutive month in September, up almost 18.0% over July's low. Similarly, sales of new homes had back-to-back increases and were 7.7% above July. The inventory of new homes for sale has either stayed the same or declined every month of this year.