Earlier today, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reported that mortgage interest rates declined in September.  That was true as well for the subset of mortgages used to purchase newly built homes, but the changes were very small.  On conventional mortgages for new homes, the average contract interest rate edged down by just 2 basis points, to 4.11 percent.

Meanwhile, the average initial fee on mortgages used to purchase newly built homes dropped from 1.15 to 1.09 percent—the lowest it’s been since August of 2013.

However, the decline in the average fee was not enough to drive the average effective interest rate (which amortizes the initial fee over the estimated life of the loan) down by more than 2 basis points, to 4.23 percent.  Except for these minor fluctuations, the average terms on conventional new home mortgages have been stable for the past four months.

Also in September, the average price of a new home purchased with a convention loan, and the average amount of the loan, both increased. The average loan amount went from $314,200 to $319,800, while the average new home purchase price went from $411,800 to $422,300.  Each has been hovering within a relatively narrow band since March.

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http://eyeonhousing.org/2014/10/rate-on-new-home-loans-stays-just-above-4-percent/