30-Year Loan Rates Hold Steady
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Saturday, August 9, 2008
Rates on 30-year mortgages didn't budge this week; rates on other home loans were mixed.
Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.52 percent for the week ended Aug. 7. That was the same as last week's rate, which marked the second-highest of the year. The highest -- 6.63 percent -- came the week ended July 24.
Meanwhile, rates on 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages, a popular choice for refinancing, rose to 6.10 percent this week, up from 6.07 percent last week.
Other rates, however, went down. Rates on five-year, adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 6.05 percent this week. That was down slightly from 6.07 percent last week. And rates on one-year, adjustable-rate mortgages dipped to 5.22 percent, compared with 5.27 percent.
With credit harder to come by, people are finding it more difficult to finance big-ticket purchases such as homes and cars.
"The housing market is continuing to act as a drag on the economy," said Frank E. Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist. With foreclosures at record highs, empty homes are being dumped on top of a glut of unsold homes, adding to builders' troubles. Deep cutbacks by home builders have taken a bite out of national economic activity.
The mortgage rates do not include add-on fees known as points. The nationwide fee for 30-year mortgages and 15-year mortgages each averaged 0.7 point. Five-year and one-year mortgages each carried an average fee of 0.6 point.
A year ago, rates on 30-year mortgages stood at 6.59 percent, 15-year mortgage rates averaged 6.25 percent, five-year adjustable-rate mortgages were at 6.33 percent and one-year adjustable-rate mortgages stood at 5.65 percent.
