Mortgage rates forecast september 2011

Mortgage rates forecast september 2011 ; Mortgage rates hit record lows this week, reflecting continued market and U.S. employment concerns, Freddie Mac's chief economist said Thursday.

Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.12% for the week ending Sept. 8, down from 4.22% last week and 4.35% a year ago. The mortgage's previous low was set the week ended Aug. 18, when the rate averaged 4.15%.

Concerns about euro-zone sovereign debt and a weak U.S. payrolls report for August put downward pressure on yields on Treasury bonds, enabling fixed mortgage rates to hit new lows, according to Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist of Freddie Mac. Fixed mortgage rates are closely related to yields on 10-year Treasury notes.

"On net, the economy added no new jobs last month and was the weakest reading since September 2010," Mr. Nothaft said. "Meanwhile, the unemployment rate remained at 9.1%, marking its 31st consecutive month of being above 8%, the longest such stretch in 70 years."

Mortgage rates haven't been above 6% since November 2008, according to Bankrate.com. When the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.33%, a $200,000 mortgage would have had a monthly payment of $1,241.86. A mortgage rate of 4.35% on the same size loan would mean a monthly payment of $995.62, according to the news release.

Fifteen-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.33%, down from 3.39% last week and 3.83% a year ago, according to Freddie Mac.

Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 2.96%, unchanged from last week. The ARM averaged 3.56% a year ago. And rates on 1-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 2.84%, down from 2.89% last week and 3.46% a year ago.

To obtain the rates, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage required payment of an average 0.7 point, while the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage and both ARMs required payment of an average 0.6 point. A point is 1% of the mortgage amount, charged as prepaid interest. source online.wsj.com