Conforming, FHA, Jumbo Mortgage Interest Rates (30 Year Fixed) Not Budging
By: Bruno Mckenzie
SHEEPSHEAD BAY, NY — Feb. 16 (FreeRateUpdate.com) – Mortgage rates haven’t been doing a whole lot lately. Despite volatile stock markets, and volatile mortgage-backed securities markets, mortgage rates have been cemented at current levels for weeks. The stock market has done a bit of the same. The Dow, up over 86 points today at 8:13 AM 
PST, has been up and down and overall relatively unchanged since a decline to around 10,000. The much awaited end of the Fed’s MBS purchase program on March 31st is the x factor for mortgage rates. While many analysts say the the program ending will cause a sudden jump of at least 1/2 a percent in 30 year fixed mortgage rates, others say mortgage interest rates could remain the same for quite some time after. A recent announcement by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that they’ll purchase a huge sum of bad loans from MBS pools, freeing up cash for investors to possibly purchase more MBS, supports mortgage rates staying low.
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Headed into the week here’s where mortgage rates stand.
Current Mortgage Rates at Par: Conforming, FHA, and Jumbo -
The current conforming 30 year fixed rate remains 4.75% for both FHA and conforming mortgages. Costs for an FHA loan are considerably higher due to premiums and fees charged by the FHA. The current conforming 15 year fixed rate remains 4.25%, while the FHA 15 year fixed rate remains 4.5%. The current 5/1 ARM rate for both FHA and conforming mortgages is 3.75%.
The current jumbo 30 year fixed rate is still 5.75%.
What’s a Par Rate? Why are Mortgage Interest Rates at Par Important?
FreeRateUpdate.com researches over two dozen wholesale lender’s rate sheets on daily basis and reports mortgage rates at par to the public. A par rate is what a savvy and qualified consumer should receive with a standard 1 point or less in origination on any given day. Par rates are typically at least 1/4 percent below national averages reported by Bankrate.com and Freddie Mac. Less savvy borrowers, or perhaps those simply unaware of the day’s par rates, often lock in rates 1/4 percent higher than what they are well qualified for. The banks make huge profits on this. Par rates, not national averages, are the rates consumers should shoot for.
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