3.93: Rates Stay Below 4 Percent For Now

• June 20, 2013

by Shilpi Paul

For perhaps the last week, long-term mortgage rates remained below 4 percent.

On Thursday morning, Freddie Mac reported 3.93 percent with an average 0.8 point as the average on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage.

A few experts believe that rates will reach an average of 4 percent or higher by next week. Wall Street Journal reporter Nick Timiraos tweeted to that effect this morning: “Freddie’s mortgage rate survey says the 30-year fixed fell to 3.93 percent, but that was before yesterday’s big rate spike. Kiss that rate goodbye.”

So far, the rising rates don’t seem to be impacting home sales. According to the National Association of Realtors, existing home sales reached their highest level in 3.5 years last month, and sales are up 12.9 percent year-over-year.

From Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist Frank Nothaft:

Mortgage rates were relatively unchanged this week as market participants awaited the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) monetary policy announcement. The Fed stated that economic growth has been expanding at a moderate pace and that labor market conditions have shown further improvement, although the unemployment rate remains elevated. It noted inflation has been running below the Fed’s longer-run objective as well. As a result, the Fed will continue its bond-buying program at the current pace and maintain its highly accommodative monetary policy stance.

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/3.93_rates_stay_below_4_percent_for_now/7225