Saturday, February 16, 2013

Mortgage Rates and Your Home

Mortgage-rates-impact-your-home
Your home value is affected by many changes in the housing market, but one thing you don’t have to wonder about this week is mortgage rates. It’s been three weeks now and the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) has held steady at 3.53 percent with less than a point, according to the Weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey®. The 15-year FRM remained the same this week, as well with a 2.77 percent rate and average 0.8 point.

Freddie Mac Vice President and Chief Economist Frank Nothaft shared that “Mortgage rates remain near record lows and continue to support housing demand, translating into a pick-up in home prices in most markets.”

Nothaft further stated that, “Among large metropolitan areas, 88 percent saw positive annual increases in the fourth quarter, compared to 81 percent in the third quarter and 75 percent in the second.” Phoenix at 34 percent, Detroit at 31 percent and San Francisco at 28 percent showed the highest increases.

At 2.64 percent (.6 point) and 2.61 percent (.3 point), even Treasury rates seem to be pretty stable, too. The 5 year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 2.64 percent, down from a 2.84 last year. The 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM increased slightly to 2.61 percent but is still well below last year’s average of 2.84 percent.

To check the rates each week for yourself and see other news that may impact your home, please visit Freddie Mac here.