30 Year Fixed Loans Average 4.4% This Week

According to this LATimes.com article, "Fixed mortgage rates held steady this week, according to home finance giant Freddie Mac, with lenders offering the 30-year home loan at an average of 4.4%, the same as last week.

The average rate for a 15-year fixed loan was 3.44% compared to 3.43% a week ago, which is statistically unchanged.

While demand for mortgages to purchase homes has increased as housing markets improve, overall demand for home loans has declined as fewer people find it worthwhile to refinance homes.

According to the Mortgage Bankers Assn., the number of applications for home loans has dropped in 12 of the 15 weeks since early May, when Freddie Mac pegged the typical 30-year rate at 3.35%. Delinquencies and foreclosures also have declined.

The number of foreclosure-related filings dropped 32% in July compared with a year earlier, research firm RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday, and the rate is 64% lower than at the peak in March 2010. "