Freddie Mac released the weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey results today, week ending August 30, 2012. The 30-year fixed rate mortgage average eased to 3.59%, matching a four week low. The 15-year fixed rate average held steady at only 2.86%.
Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist, Freddie Mac, remarked "...the housing market continued to show improvement over the past few months. New home sales rose 3.6 percent in July matching May's pace as the strongest month since April 2010. Similarly, pending existing home sales also rose in July to its highest rate since April 2010. And, the S&P/Case-Shiller® National Home Price Index rose 1.2 percent between the second quarter of 2011 and 2012, reflecting the first annual increase since the second quarter of 2010."