Average U.S. mortgage interest rates declined for the second consecutive week, Freddie Mac reported February 16, 2017, through its weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey; however, interest rates averaged a half-point more than last year.
"For the last 46 years, the 30-year mortgage rate has been almost perfectly correlated with the yield on the 10-year Treasury, but not this year," Sean Becketti, chief economist for Freddie Mac, said. "From December 29, 2016, through today, the 30-year mortgage rate fell 17 basis points to ... 4.15 percent [for the week ending February 16, 2017]. In contrast, the 10-year Treasury yield began and ended the same period at 2.49 percent. While we expect mortgage rates to fall into line with Treasury yields shortly, this just may be a year full of surprises."
The 15-year, fixed rate mortgage loan averaged 3.35 percent, with an average 0.5 point, compared to 3.39 percent the previous week and 2.95 percent the previous year. The five-year, adjustable rate mortgage averaged 3.18 percent.