Rates on 30-year mortgages, after falling steadily for a month, edged up slightly this past week but still remained well below the levels of a year ago.
Mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.12 percent, up from 6.11 percent the previous week.
All mortgage rates except the five-year adjustable rate mortgage showed tiny gains in recent days, which economists attributed to conflicting signals from the economy.
The Federal Reserve on Tuesday at its final meeting of the year voted as expected to keep interest rates unchanged.
Many economists believe the Fed, which last changed rates in June, will remain on hold until May or June of next year, with Fed policymakers hoping that the 17 rate hikes they have already approved will be enough to achieve a soft landing in which a slowing economy cools inflation without triggering a recession.
After five years in which sales of both new and existing homes climbed to successive highs, the housing market has cooled considerably this year. Sales have fallen and home builders have been scrambling to cut back on construction to deal with record levels of unsold homes.
Rates on 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages, a popular choice for refinancing, averaged 5.86 percent this week, up from 5.84 percent last week.
For one-year adjustable rate mortgages, rates edged up to 5.45 percent, compared to 5.43 percent last week.
Five-year adjustable rate mortgages were unchanged at 5.92 percent, the same as last week.
The mortgage rates do not include add-on fees known as points. Thirty-year mortgages carried a nationwide average fee of 0.4 point, while the 15-year had a fee of 0.5 point, the five-year was at 0.6 point and one-year mortgages carried a fee of 0.8 point.
A year ago, 30-year mortgages averaged 6.30 percent. Fifteen-year mortgages stood at 5.85 percent, one-year ARMs were at 5.15 percent and five-year ARMs averaged 5.77 percent.
People
Chris Bacoka, a real estate associate with Towne or Country Real Estate in Smokey Point, received the top sales agent award at the company’s Christmas party. This is the seventh time in nine years Bacoka has held this honor.
Send your real estate news to Mike Benbow, Business editor, The Herald, P.O. Box 930, Everett, WA 98206 or e-mail to economy@heraldnet.com.
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