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Having mortgage rates fall below 4.00 percent used to only be the stuff that dreams are made of.  Seeing those rates consistently fall below the 4.00 percent line used to be even more fictitious.

Well, in the words of Chubby Checker: you better believe it, baby!

This week’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) from Freddie Mac was released with some very intriguing numbers to report.

Rates on a 30-year fixed mortgage have been below 4.00 percent or directly at 4.00 percent consecutively for the last eight weeks.  That’s just pure insanity.  Seriously, doing anything for eight weeks in a row is an amazing feat, let alone mortgage rates plateauing near record lows for eight straight weeks.

Think about it – eight weeks ago, we were just getting ready for Halloween, and here we are preparing for the holiday season and New Year’s.  I’m in shock.

30-year fixed mortgage rates came in at 3.91 percent with 0.7 points, dropping from its previous record of 3.94 percent with 0.8 points last week.  Last year at this time, 30-year fixed mortgages averaged 4.81 percent.  That’s almost a complete percentage point drop-off over a 12-month span!

15-year fixed mortgage rates plateaued at a good spot over the past seven days.  Like last week, 15-year fixed rates came in at 3.21 percent with 0.8 points, which was an unprecedented mark set last week.  A year ago, 15-year fixed rates averaged 4.15 percent.

Do the math – if 15-year fixed rates slip 0.06 more points, we’re at a full percentage point drop from last year.

The adjustable-rate mortgages also hit record lows this week.  5/1-year ARMs fell slightly to 2.85 percent with 0.6 points this week from last week’s 2.86 percent with 0.6 points.  1-year ARMs fell from 2.81 percent and 0.6 points last week to 2.77 points with 0.6 points this week.   Both of these rates are record lows for ARMs.

So what did my main man Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist from Freddie Mac, have to say this week?

Well, probably exactly what you expected – rates are extremely low.

“Rates are now almost 0.9 percentage points below where they were at the beginning of the year, which means that today’s home buyers are paying over $1,200 less per year on a $200,000 loan.  This greater affordability helped push existing home sales higher for the second consecutive month in November to an annualized pace of 4.42 million – the most since January,” he explained.

This would not be a weekly mortgage update without having me urge you to take advantage of these AMAZINGLY low mortgage rates.  Get to a computer, go to www.QuickenLoans.com or get to a phone and call one of our Home Loan Experts at 1-(800)-251-9080.

Wait, aren’t you already at a computer if you’re reading this?  Regardless, get a hold of us!

Eric Mally is a writer for Quicken Loans, a company whose clients believe it’s Engineered to Amaze.  Interested in being Amazed by us? Read trusted reviews at Quicken Loans Reviews and at Epinions.

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