Yellen, Greece push mortgage rates down

Mortgage rates eased this week as the Fed signaled to investors that it is not ready to raise interest rates just yet.

• The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 3.9 from 3.96 percent last week, according to the Bankrate.com national survey of large lenders. One year ago, that rate was 4.48 percent. Four weeks ago, it was 3.8 percent. The mortgages in this week's survey had an average total of 0.3 discount and origination points. Over the past 52 weeks, the 30-year fixed has averaged 4.2 percent. This week's rate is 0.3 percentage points lower than that 52-week average.
• The benchmark 15-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 3.15 percent from 3.21 percent.
• The benchmark 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage fell to 3.22 percent from 3.31 percent.
• The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate jumbo fell to 4.07 percent from 4.11 percent.

Thanks, Yellen!

The latest drop in rates came as somewhat of a surprise to those who had been watching rates rise in the past two weeks.
"I was shocked," says Michael Becker, branch manager at Sierra Pacific Mortgage in White Marsh, Maryland. Rates dropped as soon as Fed Chair Janet Yellen indicated in her testimony that the central bank is not likely to raise rates in June, Becker explains. "Yields across the world got better."

Read more: http://www.bankrate.com/finance/mortgages/mortgage-rates-022615.aspx