Mortgage rates hold steady on uncertain economic data

by KERRI PANCHUK

Fixed-mortgage rates held steady on mixed economic reports this past week, Freddie Mac said Thursday.

Still, fixed rates hovered near their 60-year lows.

Freddie's Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage averaging 4.11%, down from 4.12% a week earlier and 4.21% a year ago.

In addition, the 15-year, FRM hit 3.38%, up slightly from 3.37% a week ago and down from 3.54% last year.

Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist of Freddie Mac, said mixed economic data left mortgage rates mostly unchanged. "Retail sales were up 1.1% from September, almost four times the pace set in August," he said.

However, he noted the consumer sentiment fell in the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Index, leading to mixed economic reports in the market.

Adjustable rates moved more than fixed rates during the period.

The five-year, Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage hit 3.01%, down from 3.06% a week earlier and 3.45% from last year.

In addition, the one-year, Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.94%, up from 2.90% last week and down from 3.30% last year.

URL to original article: http://www.housingwire.com/2011/10/20/mortgage-rates-hold-steady-on-uncertain-economic-data

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