3.55: Rates Finally Move Back Up

• August 2, 2012

by Shilpi Paul

After falling to record lows for 13 of the past 14 weeks, rates finally moved back up this week.

This morning, Freddie Mac reported 3.55 percent with an average 0.7 point as the average on a 30-year fixed mortgage. Last week, rates dropped below 3.5 for the first time, hitting 3.49 percent. With the exception of one week, rates have been below 4 percent for all of 2012.

From Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist Frank Nothaft:

Recent announcements of additional debt relief for the Eurozone and mixed domestic economic indicators added upward pressure on Treasury yields as well as mortgage rates this week. Housing data were also assorted. The S&P-500 Case Shiller® 20-City Composite Index rose for the fourth consecutive month in May with 18 of the cities experiencing positive growth. Nonetheless, pending home sales fell 1.4 percent in June, below the market consensus forecast of a 0.3 percent increase, and May’s figure had a downward revision.

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/3.55_rates_finally_move_back_up/5858