The Wall Street Journal, By Nathan Becker
May 14, 2010
Home-mortgage rates fell to the lowest level of the year in recent days as Treasury yields slumped due to investors seeking a haven following last week's stock-market turmoil, according to Freddie Mac's weekly survey of mortgage rates.
Mortgage rates tend to follow Treasury yields. The benchmark 10-year note dropped to a five-month intraday low last Thursday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered an intraday drop of nearly 1,000 points.
The latest week was the fifth in a row that interest rates on fixed-rate mortgages fell, noted Freddie Chief Economist Frank Nothaft.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.93% for the week ended Thursday, down from last week's 5% average but up from 4.86% a year ago. Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages were 4.3%, compared with 4.36% and 4.27%, respectively.
Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 3.95%, a low since Freddie began tracking such mortgages in early 2005, down from last week's 3.97% and 4.82% a year earlier. One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs were 4.02%, down from 4.07% and 4.71%, respectively.
To obtain the rates, the 30-year fixed required payment of an average 0.7 point and the other mortgages required an average 0.6 point. A point is 1% of the loan amount, charged as prepaid interest.
 
Wells Fargo Rates:
 
as of 05/17/2010 11:00 am
Product Interest Rate APR
Conforming 1and FHA Loans
30-Year Fixed 4.875% 5.065%
30-Year Fixed FHA 4.875% 5.630%
15-Year Fixed 4.250% 4.573%
5-Year ARM 3.375% 3.549%
5-Year ARM FHA 3.375% 3.208%
Larger Loan Amounts in Eligible Areas – Conforming and FHA.1
30-Year Fixed 4.875% 5.012%
30-Year Fixed FHA 4.875% 5.575%
5-Year ARM 3.750% 3.634%
Jumbo1 Loans – Amounts that exceed conforming loan limits1
30-Year Fixed 5.500% 5.643%
5-Year ARM 4.875% 4.047%