Mortgage Rates Drop for First Time in Six Weeks

SEATTLE-The 30-year fixed mortgage rate on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace is currently 3.88%, down five basis points from 3.93% a week prior. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate hovered between 3.94 and 3.84% for the majority of the week, dropping down to as low as 3.79% on Friday.“Rates dipped this week after rising for six consecutive weeks on anticipation that the Fed may slow the pace of the quantitative easing stimulus program early,” said Erin Lantz, director of Zillow Mortgage Marketplace. “This coming week, rate movements will be guided by Wednesday’s press conference to discuss the FOMC‘s latest meeting. If Chairman Ben Bernanke suggests the Fed is considering accelerating the wind-down of the stimulus program, we expect rates to continue to climb. If instead, Bernanke expresses renewed concerns about the strength of the economic recovery and implies that a longer stimulus period is needed, then rates may retreat closer to levels we saw through the first four months of the year.”Zillow’s real-time mortgage rates are based on thousands of custom mortgage quotes submitted daily to anonymous borrowers on the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace site, and reflect the most recent changes in the market. These are not marketing rates, or a weekly survey.The rate for a 15-year fixed home loan is currently 2.97%, while the rate for a 5-1 adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) is 2.63%.