Mortgage Rates Increase Slightly For Week

Mortgage rates moved only slightly over the week, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage lender survey, the results of which were released Thursday.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.16 percent for the week ending March 22, up from last week’s 6.14 percent. The mortgage is down from its year-ago average of 6.32 percent.

Meanwhile, the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.90 percent over the week, up from last week’s 5.88 percent average. The mortgage averaged 5.97 percent a year ago.

Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 5.91 percent for the week, up slightly from last week’s 5.90 percent. The ARMs averaged 5.96 percent a year ago.

But 1-year Treasury-indexed ARMs moved in the opposite direction, averaging 5.40 percent for the week, down from 5.42 percent a week ago. These mortgage loans are lower than they were at this time a year ago: 5.41 percent.

To obtain the mortgage rates quoted above, the 30- and 15-year loans required the payment of an average of 0.4 points, while the 5-year ARM required 0.6 points and the 1-year ARM required 0.7 points. A point is 1 percent of the home mortgage amount, charged as prepaid interest.

“Mortgage rates were stable this week as the U.S. bond market took readings on producer prices and consumer prices in stride,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac V.P. and chief economist, in a news release.

“Excluding food and energy, core inflation at the wholesale level was up more than had been anticipated in February, but at the retail level the increase was in line with expectations. Weighing the relevant factors, The Fed decided to leave [interest rates] unchanged.”

Nothaft noted in his comments that the construction of new homes picked up last month, and the improvement beat consensus forecasts.

Data on February’s new and existing home sales, due out next week, will help provide more insight about the health of the housing market.

Wednesday, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s survey showed that mortgage application volume decreased a seasonally adjusted 2.7 percent during the week ending March 16. The volume was up 18 percent, however, compared with the same week in 2006.

SOURCE: MarketWatch