30-Year Mortgage Rates Jump to 6.40%
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Saturday, October 28, 2006
Rates on 30-year mortgages rose this week to the highest level in five weeks.
The mortgage company Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages increased to 6.40 percent last week. That was up from 6.36 percent last week and was the highest since they also hit 6.40 percent the week of Sept. 21.
All categories of mortgages showed slight increases for the week, a fact that some analysts attributed to inflation concerns expressed by officials at the Federal Reserve.
The Fed left interest rates unchanged for a third straight meeting on Wednesday after having raised rates 17 consecutive times over two years. Analysts said any rate cuts are still months away because the Fed is worried inflation is too high.
Frank E. Nothaft, chief economist at Freddie Mac, noted that the housing slowdown caused the median price of new and existing homes to post rare declines in September.
"Some areas of the country may experience a few bumps up and down as the housing industry corrects itself in the coming months," he said.
Rates on 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages, a popular choice for refinancing, averaged 6.10 percent this week, up from 6.06 percent last week.
Rates on one-year adjustable rate mortgages edged up to 5.60 percent, compared with 5.57 percent last week.
Rates on five-year adjustable rate mortgages rose to 6.14 percent, up from last week's 6.11 percent.
The mortgage rates do not include add-on fees known as points. The 30-year and 15-year mortgages each carried an average nationwide fee of 0.4 point. The one-year ARM had a nationwide average fee of 0.7 point and the five-year ARM had an average fee of 0.6 point.
A year ago, 30-year mortgages averaged 6.15 percent, 15-year mortgages stood at 5.69 percent, one-year ARMs were at 4.91 percent and the five-year ARMs were at 5.63 percent.
LEARN ABOUT LEAD PAINT . . . Several D.C. government agencies are among the sponsors of "Lead-Safe Fair: Healthy Homes -- Healthy Children" today from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Reeves Center, 2000 14th St. NW. This event will provide information about lead-based paint hazards, safety precautions and preventive measures. Blood screening for lead will be available.
Send realty announcements by e-mail torealestate@washpost.com.
