Freddie Mac: Mortgage rates edge lower; 30-year fixed at 4.42%

Fixed mortgage rates edged lower this week, with Freddie Mac reporting that lenders were offering 30-year fixed home loans at an average of 4.42%, down from 4.46% a week earlier.

The average offering rate for the 15-year fixed mortgage was 3.43%, down from 3.47% a week ago, Freddie Mac said Thursday. The initial rates on popular types of adjustable mortgages were slightly lower as well.

The total amount of single-family mortgage debt increased for the first time since 2008. “This a positive sign,” Freddie Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft said, “as it reflects that the pickup in new purchase money originations has offset loan pay-downs.”

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In another indication of a healthier mortgage market, the credit-rating firm TransUnion issued a forecast Thursday saying delinquent home loans would decline in 2014 for the fifth straight year.

The percentage of borrowers more than 60 days past due on their home loans is expected to drop from 3.94% at the end of this year to 3.75% at the end of next year, TransUnion said. The national mortgage delinquency rate peaked at nearly 7% in late 2009 and early 2010.

California had the third-highest delinquency rate of any state at the height of the mortgage crisis, topping 11%. TransUnion projected that past-due loans in the Golden State would fall to 3.07% at the end of next year compared with 3.2% at year-end 2013.

Freddie Mac asks lenders about terms they are offering to borrowers with solid credit. The borrowers would have at least 20% down payments, or 20% home equity if they are refinancing their mortgages, and would pay less than 1% of the loan amount in upfront fees and points to the lenders.

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