Rates on 30-year mortgages rose this week to the highest level in five weeks.
The mortgage company Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages increased to 6.40 percent last week. That was up from 6.36 percent last week and was the highest since they also hit 6.40 percent the week of Sept. 21.
All categories of mortgages showed slight increases for the week, a fact that some analysts attributed to inflation concerns expressed by officials at the Federal Reserve.
The Fed left interest rates unchanged for a third straight meeting Wednesday after raising rates 17 consecutive times over two years. Analysts said any rate cuts are still months away because the Fed is worried inflation is too high.
Frank Nothaft, chief economist at Freddie Mac, noted that the slowdown in housing caused the median price of both new and existing homes to post rare declines in September. “Some areas of the country may experience a few bumps up and down as the housing industry corrects itself in the coming months,” he said.
Rates on 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages, a popular choice for refinancing, averaged 6.10 percent this week, up from 6.06 percent last week.
Rates on one-year adjustable rate mortgages edged up to 5.60 percent, compared with 5.57 percent last week.
Rates on five-year adjustable rate mortgages rose to 6.14 percent, up from last week’s 6.11 percent.
A year ago, 30-year mortgages averaged 6.15 percent, 15-year mortgages stood at 5.69 percent, one-year ARMs were at 4.91 percent and the five-year ARMs were at 5.63 percent.
Send your real estate news to Mike Benbow, Business editor, The Herald, P.O. Box 930, Everett, WA 98206, by fax at 425-339-3435 or by e-mail at economy@heraldnet.com.
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