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Because tomorrow is Turkey Day, Freddie Mac released their Weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey today as opposed to the traditional Thursday.

Mortgage rates came back this week showing decreases all across the board, which isn’t surprising considering the economic turmoil in Europe, and the super committee dropping the ball on finding a solution to the U.S. budget crisis.

30-year fixed rates fell slightly to 3.98 percent with 0.7 points this week from last week’s 4.00 percent with 0.7 points.  This is the third time in the history of modern mortgages that interest rates have fallen below the 4.00 percent line.  Last year, 30-year fixed rates came in at a staggering 4.40 percent.

15-year fixed rates also fell slightly to 3.30 percent with 0.7 points from last week’s 3.31 percent with 0.7 points.  Nothing major to write home about, but they’re still down significantly from last year, when 15-year fixed rates clocked in at 3.77 percent.

The most interesting rate drops came in the ARM realm.  ARMs fell this week to the lowest point in the history of adjustable rate mortgages.

5/1-year ARMs averaged 2.91 percent this week with 0.6 points, falling from 2.97 percent last week.  A year ago, a 5-year ARM averaged 3.45 percent.  Furthermore, 1-year ARMs fell to a staggering 2.79 percent with 0.6 points this week, from 2.98 percent and 0.6 points last week.  That’s a massive 0.19 percent drop off over the course of seven days.  12 months ago, 1-year ARMs came in at 3.23 percent.

Regarding the historically low ARM rates, Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist at Freddie Mac, said, “Mortgage rates eased slightly this week with fixed-rate loans hovering above all-time lows and ARMs reaching a new nadir.  The high-degree of home-buyer affordability in recent months translated into a 1.4 percent pickup in existing home sales during October, according to the National Association of Realtors.”

Be honest with me – have you ever heard the word “nadir” used in a sentence?  I’m not calling out Frank on his word choice at all – that bad boy is impressive.  For those of you who don’t know, “nadir” simply means the lowest point.

Consider that word permanently added to my vocabulary.

Again, there really isn’t a better time to take advantage of these great rates.  Why wouldn’t you want to refinance right now with historically low rates?

Call us today and speak with one of our Home Loan Experts!

Eric Mally is a contributor for Quicken Loans’ Zing Blog.  Stay connected with us on our Facebook page and our Twitter page to find out all the ways we’re Engineered to Amaze.

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