Mortgage rates increased slightly this week as markets debated whether rising prices or cautious consumers would most significantly impact the economy, Freddie Mac reported today in its weekly survey.
Freddie Mac reported that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage climbed to an average 6.6 percent for the week ended today, up from last week’s average of 6.58 percent. The 30-year fixed has not been higher since the week ending June 20, 2002, when it averaged 6.63 percent.
The average for the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage is 6.2 percent, up from last week’s average of 6.17 percent.
Points on both the 30- and 15-year loans averaged 0.5.
The five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 6.23 percent this week, with an average 0.5 point, up from last week when it averaged 6.22 percent. The one-year Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 5.62 percent, with an average 0.7 point, unchanged from last week.
“While financial markets try to decipher the spate of recently released economic reports, mortgage rates drifted slightly higher,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. “The current debate is between rising inflation and slower consumer spending. Until the market finds out which influence will be the strongest, mortgage rates should continue to fluctuate as they have the last couple weeks.
The following is a sampling of Bankrate.com’s average 30-year-mortgage interest rates this week in some U.S. metropolitan areas:
New York – 6.7 percent with 0.28 point
Los Angeles – 6.78 percent with 0.48 point
Chicago – 6.82 percent with 0.08 point
San Francisco – 6.8 percent with 0.25 point
Philadelphia – 6.64 percent with 0.37 point
Detroit – 6.76 percent with 0.04 point
Boston – 6.7 percent with 0.28 point
Houston – 6.7 percent with 0.53 point
Dallas – 6.75 percent with 0.46 point
Washington, D.C. – 6.6 percent with 0.67 point
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