4.51: Mortgage Rates Slip, Still Up Dramatically From Last Year

• January 9, 2014

by Lark Turner

Mortgage rates dipped slightly this week, down from 4.53 percent last week.

On Thursday morning, Freddie Mac reported 4.51 percent with an average 0.7 point as the average on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage.

At this time last year, rates averaged 3.40 percent. If you are interested in seeing about how much a year’s difference can affect a mortgage payment, check out some recent calculations here.

From Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist Frank Nothaft on today’s rates:

“Mortgage rates were little changed amid a week of light economic reports. Of the few releases, the private sector added an estimated 238,000 jobs in December, which exceeded the market consensus and followed an upward revision of 14,000 jobs in November, according to the ADP Research Institute. Also, the Institute for Supply Management reported a greater slowing in growth in the non-manufacturing industry in December than the market consensus forecast.”

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/4.51_mortgage_rate_slips_slightly_still_up_dramatically_from_last_year/7977