Mortgage Rates Are Actually Dropping

(RTTNews) - Mortgage rates, which had been rising steadily since Donald Trump won the US presidential elections, dropped for the second consecutive week.

Releasing the results of its primary mortgage market survey, Freddie Mac said that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage or FRM averaged 4.12 percent for the week ended January 12, down from 4.20 percent last week. A year ago at this time, the average rate was 3.92 percent.

15-year FRM this week averaged 3.44 percent, down from last week when it averaged 3.55 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.26 percent.

The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage or ARM averaged 3.23 percent, up from 3.33 percent last week. It was 3.01 percent a year ago.

"After absorbing a mixed December jobs report; the 10-year Treasury yield fell 8 basis points. The 30-year mortgage rate moved in tandem with Treasury yields falling 8 basis points to 4.12 percent, the second decline since the presidential election," said Sean Becketti, chief economist, Freddie Mac.