Who has the lowest mortgage rates today?

Thirty-year fixed mortgage rates saw another noticeable increase Thursday, while 15-year fixed and 5/1 ARM rates rose by a hair, according to a NerdWallet survey of mortgage rates published by national lenders this morning.

This week, mortgage applications were down 4.1% compared with last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, released yesterday. With a 7% drop this week compared with last week, the seasonally adjusted purchase index was the lowest since January.

Slowly improving housing market

As mortgage application activity cools down, the housing market is still simmering, according to Freddie Mac’s Multi-Indicator Market Index, released yesterday.

“Housing markets are on track for their best year in a decade, and that’s reflected in MiMi, ” says Len Kiefer, Freddie Mac’s deputy chief economist. “The National MiMi stands at 85.7, a 5.4% year-over-year increase. The MiMi purchase applications indicator is up over 18% from last year and is at its highest level since December 2007.”

Forty-one states and the District of Columbia have MiMi values close to their benchmark averages. The top five states with scores closest to their historical benchmark index levels of 100 are Utah (99.2), Colorado (96.6), Hawaii (96.3), Idaho (96) and North Dakota (95.4), according to the report.

Kiefer said the South is showing the biggest improvements, especially Florida. “MiMi’s purchase applications indicator is up more than 30% in Florida compared to last year. Meanwhile, in the West, the battle between low mortgage rates and rising house prices continues. So far, low mortgage rates have helped on the affordability front, but in hot markets like Denver, Fresno, Provo and Los Angeles, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for the typical family to afford a median price home.”

NerdWallet daily mortgage rates are an average of the published APR with the lowest points for each loan term offered by a sampling of major national lenders. Annual percentage rate quotes reflect an interest rate plus points, fees and other expenses, providing the most accurate view of the costs a borrower might pay.

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