Mortgage Rate Picture Is Mixed
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WASHINGTON – The mortgage rate picture this week was mixed. Rates on 30-year and 15-year mortgages went up, while rates on one-year adjustable mortgages went down.
Freddie Mac’s weekly survey released yesterday showed rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages increased to 5.75%, compared with 5.68% last week.
Rates on 30-year mortgages hit a high this year of 6.34% the week of May 13.
They slowly drifted downward as the economy hit a late spring-early summer soft spot.
Recent economic data suggest the economy is expanding at a solid pace. Rates on 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages – a popular option for refinancing – rose to 5.18% this week, up from 5.11% last week.
This week’s 30-year and 15-year rates were the highest since the beginning of December.
Long-term mortgage rates have remained well-behaved even as the Fed boosted short-term interest rates five times this year.
That’s because inflation, while creeping higher, is not currently viewed as a danger to the economy, analysts say.
One-year adjustable rate mortgages, meanwhile, dipped slightly to 4.17% this week, compared with 4.18% last week.
The nationwide averages for mortgage rates do not include add-on fees known as points.
Each loan type carried a 0.6 point fee. A year ago, rates on 30-year mortgages averaged 5.82% with 15-year mortgages at 5.14% and one-year ARMs at 3.77%.
Low mortgages rates have supported home sales, which are expected to hit record highs for all of 2004.
Sales next year should also do well, according to the National Association of Realtors.