The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently reported that the national average contract mortgage rate for the purchase of previously occupied homes by combined lenders was 4.42% for November. That figure is down from October’s rate of 4.47%.
The FHFA also reported that the average interest rate on conventional 30-year fixed-rate mortgage loans of $417,000 or less decreased 12 basis points (bps) to 4.38% in November. These rates are calculated from the FHFA’s Monthly Interest Rate Survey of purchase-money mortgages and the results reflect loans closed between November 23 and November 30.
The contract rate on the composite of all mortgage loans (fixed-rate and adjustable-rate) was 4.35% in November, down 9 bps from 4.44% the previous month, according to the FHFA. The effective interest rate, which reflects the amortization of initial fees and charges, was 4.46% in November, down 11 bps from October’s figure of 4.57%.
This adjustable-rate mortgage index was the only index rate that federally chartered savings and loan associations could use as an adjustable-rate mortgage index in the early 1980s. Many lenders use the national average contract mortgage rate in adjusting some adjustable-rate mortgages.