Interest rates on fixed-rate mortgages climbed for the second week in a row, rising to levels seen at the beginning of the year, mortgage financier Freddie Mac said today.
The government-sponsored entity said the average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.04 percent for the week ending February 21, up from 5.72 percent last week.
The 15-year product also worsened, with rates averaging 5.64 percent this week, up from 5.25 percent last week.
“After trending up in the past two weeks, long-term fixed mortgage rates are back up to nearly where they were at the beginning of the year. In contrast, average rates on adjustable-rate mortgages are about 0.5 percentage points below levels of the first week of this year,” Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist Frank Nothaft said in a statement Thursday.
Rates on five-year adjustable-rate mortgages rose to an average of 5.37 percent from 5.19 percent last week, while one-year Treasury-ARMs fell to 4.98 percent from 5.00 percent a week ago.
“As the spread between long-term fixed-rates and adjustable-rates widens, it’s possible we could see a slight increase in the popularity of adjustable-rate mortgages,” Nothaft noted.
A year ago, the 30-year averaged 6.22 percent, the 15-year 5.97 percent, the 5-year 5.96 percent, and the one-year 5.49 percent.
Looks like the mini refi-boom starting in late January was short lived.
(photo: kapungo)
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