Mortgage rates hover around record lows

Mortgage rates continue to hover around historic lows, keeping home buying affordable for those who can get a loan. 

The 30-year fixed-rate average was 3.4 percent this up from 3.39 percent, Freddie Mac reported on Thursday. 

A year ago, the rate was 3.99 percent.

The 15-year fixed-rate was 2.69 percent, down from 2.70 percent a week ago and 3.3 percent a year ago.

“The economy added 171,000 jobs, above the market consensus forecast, and the two prior months were revised up a combined 84,000,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's vice president and chief economist. 

“The Labor Department also reported that the unemployment rate ticked up to 7.9 percent and that average hourly wages were unchanged.”

On Tuesday, Freddie reported a third quarter profit of $2.9 billion and said it would not need any federal assistance. 

Meanwhile, mortgage applications fell by 5 percent last week, although most of the drop was because of Sandy, the major storm that hit the East Coast, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

“Last week’s storm had a significant impact on application volumes on the East Coast,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s vice president of research and economics.  

“Applications fell more than 60 percent compared to the prior week in New Jersey, almost 50 percent in New York and nearly 40 percent in Connecticut. Other East Coast states also saw declines over the week, while many states in other parts of the country had increases in application volumes.”

The refinancing and purchase indexes each dropped 5 percent from the previous week.  

The refinance share of mortgage activity remained constant at 80 percent of total applications from the previous week.