Mortgage rates don't get much better than this. Not recently, anyway.
Rates for home loans fell this week to their lowest level since just after the presidential election. You couldn't ask for better timing: As homebuying season heats up, mortgage rates are at six-month lows, making it a good time to apply for a home loan.
INCREASING NUMBERS OF FIRST-TIMERS
The ongoing decline in mortgage rates is particularly welcome news for first-time homebuyers, who have been stepping it up this year. They made up 60 percent of homebuyers who got mortgages in February, according to the Urban Institute. Five years earlier, the first-time buyers' share was 57 percent. The rise of first-timers is slow but sure.
The average first-time buyer makes a down payment of 9 percent. For those getting Federal Housing Administration-insured loans, it's 4.5 percent. As you would expect, first-timers buy less-expensive homes than repeat buyers.
MORTGAGE RATES THIS WEEK
The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell this week to 4.09 percent from 4.13 percent, according to Bankrate's weekly survey of large lenders. A year ago, it was 3.81 percent. Four weeks ago, the rate was 4.18 percent. The 30-year fixed-rate average for this week is 0.35 percentage points below the 52-week high of 4.44 percent, and is 0.57 percentage points above the 52-week low of 3.52 percent.
The 30-year fixed mortgages in this week's survey had an average total of 0.23 discount and origination points.
Over the past 52 weeks, the 30-year fixed has averaged 3.96 percent. This week's rate is 0.13 percentage points higher than the 52-week average.
_The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 3.31 percent from 3.32 percent.
_The 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage fell to 3.41 percent from 3.42 percent.
_The 30-year fixed-rate jumbo mortgage fell to 4.02 percent from 4.06 percent.
At the current 30-year fixed rate, you'll pay $482.62 for every $100,000 you borrow, down from $484.94 last week.
At the current 15-year fixed rate, you'll pay $705.59 for every $100,000 you borrow, down from $706.08 last week.
At the current 5/1 ARM rate, you'll pay $444.04 for every $100,000 you borrow, down from $444.59 last week.
