30-Year Rates Up After Month of Drops
|
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Rates on 30-year mortgages rose for the first time this year after four straight weekly declines.
Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.68 percent this week, up from 5.48 percent last week, which marked the lowest level for 30-year mortgages in nearly four years.
Economists attributed the slight rise to the rebound in rates that occurred on Treasury bond markets.
The Federal Reserve cut a key interest rate Wednesday for the second time in just over a week, in an aggressive effort to lower borrowing costs to keep the economy from slipping into recession.
Frank Nothaft, chief economist at Freddie Mac, said various mortgage rates showed slight increases.
Even as it rose, the 30-year mortgage remained below 6 percent for the fifth straight week. Analysts are hoping low rates will help spur a rebound in the housing market. However, that is not expected to occur until about midyear, after the number of homes for sale declines to more manageable levels.
Rates on 15-year mortgages, a popular choice for refinancing, edged up to 5.17 percent, compared with 4.95 percent last week.
Rates on five-year adjustable-rate mortgages increased to 5.32 percent, compared with 5.13 percent last week, while rates on one-year ARMs rose to 5.05 percent, up from 4.99 percent last week.
The mortgage rates do not include add-on fees known as points. Thirty-year mortgages, 15-year mortgages and five-year adjustable-rate mortgages all carried a nationwide average fee of 0.4 point, one-year ARMS an average 0.7 point.
A year ago, 30-year mortgages stood at 6.34 percent while rates on 15-year mortgages were at 6.06 percent. Five-year adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 6.04 percent, and one-year ARMs were at 5.54 percent this time a year ago.
AWARDS. . . The Home Builders Care Foundation recently announced the winners of its annual community service awards: K Bank received the Directors Award for its fundraising efforts for the foundation last year, and Kem Snow of Ridan Builders received the Tom Sawyer Award for his work on the renovation of the Dale Drive Apartments in Silver Spring.
Send realty announcements by e-mail torealestate@washpost.com.
