3.54: Mortgage Rates Drop, Reversing Course

• March 21st 2013

by Shilpi Paul

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After a jump up last week, rates have reversed course.

On Thursday, Freddie Mac reported 3.54 percent with an average 0.8 point as the average on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. Last week, rates jumped up to an average of 3.63 percent after slowly climbing for the past few months.

Rates have now been below 4 percent for a year, and Freddie Mac predicts that rates will stay below 4 percent throughout 2013.

From Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist Frank Nothaft:

Low and stable inflation is placing downward pressure on fixed mortgage rates. Annual growth in the consumer price index has remained at or below 2 percent for the past four months, and for the producer price index even lower. This, in part, is why the Federal Reserve monetary policy committee on March 20th lowered the upper end of its inflation forecast for 2013.

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 https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/3.54_Mortgage_Rates_Drop_Reversing_Course/6820.