The Truth About Mortgage.com

After falling for the first time in four weeks, mortgage rates quickly reversed their downward momentum and climbed slightly higher for the week ending March 13, mortgage financier Freddie Mac said today.

According to Freddie’s weekly mortgage rate survey, the average rate on a traditional 30-year fixed-rate mortgage climbed to 6.13 percent from 6.03 percent a week ago, while the 15-year moved to 5.60 percent from 5.47 percent.

“However, for the first 11 weeks so far this year, the average 30-year fixed rate is still below 5.9%, and the average 30-year rate in January was the lowest since July 2005,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist.

Adjustable-rate mortgages fared even worse, with the average five-year Treasury increasing to 5.58 percent from 5.34 percent a week ago, as the one-year ARM ticked up to 5.14 percent from 4.94 percent previously.

Despite the slight increase in mortgage rates, they remain at historically low levels, keeping homes a bit more affordable despite a shortage of motivated buyers.

“The combination of lower house prices and lower mortgage rates contributed to a more affordable market for homebuyers,” he said.

“The National Association of Realtors reported that January’s Pending Home Sales Index held unchanged from December, contrary to the consensus expectation of a 1% slide, signaling that existing home sales in February could hold steady from January’s level.”

A year ago, the average rate on a 30-year was 6.14 percent, 5.88 percent on a 15-year, 5.90 percent on a five-year, and 5.42 percent on a one-year.

(photo: mayr)