3.52: Rates Move Up a Smidge

• March 7, 2013

by Shilpi Paul

After a slight drop last week, long-term mortgage rates moved up by just a hundredth of a point on Thursday.

Freddie Mac reported 3.52 percent with an average 0.7 point as the average on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage this morning. Last week, rates hit an average of 3.51 percent, dropping for the first time in months.

From Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist Frank Nothaft:

These low mortgage rates are helping to revive the housing market. For instance the CoreLogic® home price index rose 9.7 percent between January 2012 and 2013, marking the largest annual increase since April 2006.

If you have been reading these weekly mortgage rate dispatches each week and have been wondering what the deal is with points attached to long-term rates, here is a good primer that we published earlier in the week.

The UrbanTurf Mortgage Rate Disclaimer: The rates reported by Freddie Mac for 30-year mortgages are usually the best rates that the most qualified borrowers can get, so borrowers or those considering refinancing should not necessarily read this news and think that they can go out and get a loan with the quoted interest rate.

Here’s a look at the path of rates since January 2010:

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/3.52_rates_move_up_a_smidge/6755