Mortgage rates this week were mostly flat on lack of significant economic news, Freddie Mac reported today in its weekly survey.
According to Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage held at an average 6.14 percent, while the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage inched up from 5.86 percent to 5.88 percent. Points, which are fees lenders charge for loan processing expressed as a percent of the loan, averaged 0.4 on the 30- and 15-year loans.
“Mortgage rates moved little in the past week, as the latest economic news gave no reason for change,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, in a statement. “The economy added 97,000 jobs in February, in line with consensus expectations, while the unemployment rate dipped to 4.5 percent. But the promising employment situation did not materialize at the cash registers, with retail sales only growing by 0.1 percent in February, falling short of the 0.3 percent gain that had been predicted.”
Adjustable-rate loans posted mixed movement this week, with the average 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid ARM standing at 5.9 percent and the 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM sinking to 5.42 percent. Points on the 5-year and 1-year ARMs averaged 0.6 and 0.7, respectively.
“Over the course of next week, February’s inflation measures at the wholesale and retail levels will be published and could serve as the driving force behind further rate movement,” Nothaft said.
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 – 6.11 percent with 0.14 point
Los Angeles – 6.2 percent with 0.39 point
Chicago – 6.26 percent with 0.04 point
San Francisco – 6.11 percent with 0.48 point
Philadelphia – 6.16 percent with 0.29 point
Detroit – 6.22 percent with 0.03 point
Boston – 6.21 percent with 0.11 point
Houston – 6.16 percent with 0.44 point
Dallas – 6.07 percent with 0.47 point
Washington, D.C. – 6.09 percent with 0.51 point
