Mortgage rates inch up for third week in a row: Freddie Mac

by CHRISTINE RICCIARDI

Mortgage interest rates inched up for a third consecutive week, according to the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

The average 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage increased just 1 basis point to 4.87%, the agency said. That is still well below the average 5.21% one year ago. Rates broke 5% in February.

Rates on 15-year FRMs hit 4.1%, up one basis point compared to one week prior. The average origination point for this type of loan is currently 0.7. The rate for a 15-year FRM was 4.52% a year ago.

According to Freddie Mac, five-year, Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages increased slightly to 3.72% from 3.7% one week ago, while one-year, Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged to 3.22%. During the same week in 2010, the rates for these ARMs were 4.25% and 4.14%, respectively.

Freddie Mac Chief Economist Frank Nothaft said positive macroeconomic factors including unemployment are steadying mortgage rates.

"Mortgage rates were little changed after an encouraging employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics," Nothaft said. "The economy added 216,000 jobs in March and the unemployment rate fell for the fifth consecutive month to 8.8 percent marking the lowest rate in two years. Additionally, the private sector has gained 560,000 workers in the first quarter of this year, which represents the largest quarterly increase since the first quarter of 2006."

The Bankrate survey of large thrifts showed slightly different results in mortgage rates when looking at results from the same week. The rate for a 30-year FRM increased seven basis points to 5.08%, the rate for 15-year FRMs rose slightly to 4.27%, and the rate for a 5-year ARM decreased to 3.87%.

URL to original article: http://www.housingwire.com/2011/04/07/mortgage-rates-inch-up-for-third-week-in-a-row-freddie-mac

For further information on Fresno Real Estate check: http://www.londonproperties.com