Posted on: Friday, April 2, 2004
Mortgage rates up, but still lower than last year
| • | Current mortgage rates |
By Jeannine Aversa
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Mortgage rates climbed this week, but they are still lower than a year ago and should continue to spur the housing market.
The average rate on benchmark 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages rose to 5.52 percent this week, up from 5.40 percent last week, mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported yesterday in its weekly nationwide survey of mortgage rates.
In mid-June last year, rates on 30-year mortgages sank to 5.21 percent, their lowest level on record. Rates on 30-year mortgages have bounced around since then. A year ago, 30-year mortgages averaged 5.79 percent, 15-year mortgages 5.06 percent and one-year adjustable mortgages stood at 3.82 percent.
For 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, rates this week increased to 4.84 percent from 4.70 percent last week. Rates for one-year adjustable mortgages moved up this week to 3.46 percent, compared with 3.36 percent last week, which had been the lowest since Freddie Mac began tracking rates on one-year ARMs in 1984.
"Even with rates slightly higher, the housing industry will continue to be an active, solid sector of the economy going into the spring buying season," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist.
Low mortgage rates propelled home sales to record highs in 2003.
Federal Reserve member Donald Kohn, in a speech yesterday, raised some concern about home prices, which have continued to climb. "The odds have risen that these prices could be out of line with fundamentals," he said. But added: "We still cannot be very confident about whether a significant misalignment exists, however."
