3.84: Mortgage Rates Stay Put

• May 21st 2015

by Lark Turner

Mortgage rates dipped slightly this week after two weeks of growth on strong economic news.

The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage shifted down to 3.84 percent with an average 0.7 point, according to Freddie Mac. That’s down a hair from 3.80 last week and down from 4.14 percent a year ago.

In a news release, Len Kiefer, Freddie Mac’s deputy chief economist, said the rates were stagnating slightly on mixed economic news.

“Mortgage rates were little changed this week amid positive housing news. Housing starts surged 20.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted pace of 1.14 million units in April, the highest level since 2007. As home buying season moves into full swing, home builders remain positive about home sales in the near future. Although the NAHB housing market index slipped 2 points to 54 in May it is still above 50, indicating that on balance builders remain optimistic about housing markets.”

UrbanTurf is following the path of the rates in this chart:

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.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/3.84_mortgage_rates_stay_put/9917.