Mortgage rates increased slightly this week after the latest consumer price report suggested that inflation is still a threat, according to surveys conducted by Freddie Mac and Bankrate.com.
In Freddie Mac’s survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage inched up to an average 6.63 percent for the week ended today, up very slightly from last week’s average of 6.62 percent. The average for the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage is 6.25 percent, up slightly from last week’s average of 6.23 percent.
Points, which are fees charged by lenders for loan processing expressed as a percent of the loan, averaged 0.5 on the 30-year loan and 0.6 on the 15-year loan.
The five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 6.23 percent this week, with an average 0.5 point, up a little from last week when it averaged 6.2 percent. The one-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 5.66 percent, with an average 0.6 point, also up from last week when it averaged 5.63 percent.
“Mixed economic indicators are causing some volatility in financial markets. This invariably leads to the fluctuations in mortgage rates like what we have seen recently,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. “Still, there has been no drastic movement in mortgage rates and we see nothing on the horizon that would bring about any extreme rise or fall in rates going forward. Our economic forecast still indicates strongly that, even with gradually rising rates, 2006 may well be the third-strongest year on record for housing.”
In Bankrate.com’s survey, fixed mortgage rates increased following the release of the May Consumer Price Index, which showed inflation still lurks. The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage inched higher from 6.69 percent to 6.71 percent, according to Bankrate.com’s weekly national survey of large lenders, and had an average of 0.35 discount and origination points.
Bankrate.com reported that the average 15-year fixed-rate mortgage popular for refinancing rose to 6.36 percent. On larger loans, the average jumbo 30-year fixed rate nosed upward to 6.88 percent from 6.86 percent. Adjustable-rate mortgages were mixed, with the average 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage dipping to 6.31 percent and the average one-year ARM climbing to 5.94 percent.
Mortgage rates have bobbed up and down over the past month, moving only slightly from one week to the next, according to Bankrate.com. Even a higher-than-expected increase in consumer prices barely caused a ripple in mortgage rates. The latest inflation news assures a rate hike at the Federal Open Market Committee’s next meeting June 28-29. While short-term interest rates continue to rise, longer-term instruments are showing little reaction. Mortgage rates are closely related to yields on long-term government bonds.
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 0.21 point
Los Angeles – 6.73 percent with 0.49 point
Chicago – 6.87 percent with 0.06 point
San Francisco – 6.77 percent with 0.27 point
Philadelphia – 6.58 percent with 0.48 point
Detroit – 6.79 percent with no points
Boston – 6.74 percent with 0.16 point
Houston – 6.68 percent with 0.59 point
Dallas – 6.69 percent with 0.52 point
Washington, D.C. – 6.53 percent with 0.74 point
