WASHINGTON – Rates on 30-year and 15-year mortgages edged up this week amid signs that the economic rebound continues to push ahead. Rates on one-year adjustable mortgages dipped slightly.
For the week ending Nov. 7, the average rate on 30-year mortgages rose to 5.98 percent, up from 5.94 percent the previous week, Freddie Mac, the mortgage giant, reported Thursday in its weekly nationwide survey of mortgage rates.
Rates on 30-year mortgages slid to 5.21 percent, the lowest level in more than four decades, in the middle of June. Since then, rates on these benchmark mortgages have bounced up and down.
For 15-year mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, rates increased to 5.31 percent, from 5.26 percent last week. Rates for one-year adjustable mortgages, however, averaged 3.73 percent, down slightly from last week’s 3.74 percent.
Even with the recent gyration in mortgage rates, home sales are expected to set new record highs this year. And, home-mortgage refinancing activity remains solid.
The Mortgage Bankers Association of America reported that refinancing activity accounted for 51.1 percent of all mortgage applications filed last week, down from 53.3 percent in the previous week.
Recent economic reports showing improvements in both manufacturing and the service sector for October are “welcome signs that the economy continues to improve,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.
“As a result, growth in employment has begun to rebound from lackluster levels of earlier this year. All of these positives bode well for the housing industry and should partially offset slowly rising mortgage rates this year,” he said.
The nationwide averages for mortgage rates do not include add-on fees known as points. Each loan type carried an average fee of 0.7 point this week.
A year ago, rates on 30-year mortgages averaged 6.11 percent, 15-year mortgages were 5.48 percent and one-year adjustable mortgages stood at 4.15 percent.
A seminar for first-time homebuyers interested in assistance from the state Housing Finance Commission is offered by Coldwell Banker Bain Real Estate from 10:15 a.m. until 3:15 p.m. Nov. 22 at the Evergreen Branch of the Everett Public Library, 9512 Evergreen Way. Call 425-344-7355 to reserve a space or get more information.
Send your real estate news items 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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