4.32: Mortgage Rates Stay Mostly Flat

• March 20, 2014

by Lark Turner

Mortgage rates edged down 0.05 percent this week after last week’s upward shift.

On Thursday morning, Freddie Mac reported 4.32 percent with an average 0.6 point as the average on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, down slightly from 4.37 percent last week. Rates had risen to the 4.37 high after a slight dip in early March. The rate was 3.54 percent a year ago.

Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said the slight shift was likely due to the below-forecasted performance of housing starts, an economic indicator that tracks the number of new homes under construction.

“Mortgage rates eased this week as housing starts declined 0.2 percent in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 907,000, below consensus forecast. The rate on the 10-year treasury note rose following the Fed’s announcement Wednesday afternoon and, if this holds, interest rates may begin to trend higher going into next week.”

UrbanTurf is tracking housing rates in this handy graphic:

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 http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/4.32_mortgage_rates_stay_mostly_flat/8261