Mortgage rates rise slightly on weekly basis

Some rates stay even

Mortgage rates either stayed even or increased slightly on a weekly basis, Freddie Mac said in its weekly mortgage report.

According to Freddie Mac, the stability of fixed mortgage rates over the past month is helping to spur new home construction.

“Mortgage rates have been relatively stable, hovering near record lows, for the past four weeks which is helping to spur new home construction,” Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist at Freddie Mac, said in a statement.

“For instance, new construction on single-family houses rose to an annualized rate of 613,000 in January, the most since July 2008,” Nothaft continued. “In addition, single-family building permits were up to the highest issuance level since June 2008.”

Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the week ending February 21, 2013 revealed that 30-year fixed mortgages saw slight interest rate increases, while rates for 15-year fixed mortgages remained stable.

Average rates for 30-year fixed mortgages rose to 3.56 percent from 3.53 percent the previous week, while 15-year fixed mortgages stayed even at 2.77 percent.

One year ago at this time, 30-year fixed mortgages averaged 3.95 percent and 15-year fixed mortgages averaged 3.19 percent.

Additionally, 5-year adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) stayed even at 2.64 percent week-over-week, while 1-year ARMs increased from 2.61 percent to 2.65 percent.

One year ago at this time, 5-year ARMs averaged 2.80 percent and 1-year ARMs averaged 2.73 percent.

Posted in: Mortgage, Mortgage Rates, Refinance, Refinance Rates

Mortgage News: This article was published on 2-25-2013 at 8:26 am.

View comments