Today 5/8/08 Freddie Mac reported that the average mortgage interest rates for 30 and 15 year fixed-rate loans have moved VERY slightly, one up and one down. Nationally the average mortgage interest rate for 30 year fixed-rate mortgages was 6.05% (6.04% in the southeast), down from 6.06% a week ago. The average interest rate for 15 year fixed-rate mortgages was 5.60%, up from 5.59% last week. A year ago the 30 year rate was 6.21%. These were changes hardly worth reporting.
Even though the housing market is still in the doldrums, the mortgage interest rates hardly wavered from last week's averages. This is partly due to better-than-expected economic news that showed that our economy still had some "staying power", said Freddie Mac spokespersons.
Less jobs were lost in April and the service and manufacturing sectors exceeded expectations. Worker productivity was also up. The housing market is still struggling, but we are a large country and some areas are doing worse and others better than the average. That said, prices continue to fall and lenders continue to tighten lending requirements (they should have done that about 3 years ago and we would not be in our current situation).
If you want to learn more about Freddie Mac or see the details of their survey, go to: www.freddiemac.com and click on the link for "Current Weekly Survey". They break down the survey by specific regions in the United States so you can see how your state compares to other parts of the country. They also explain the mission of Freddie Mac and offer a lot of useful information for consumers.
If you would like to speak with a lender you can find some at my website: www.jelwell.century21bnr.com . You can also speak with your own bank, credit union, or mortgage broker to see what your particular interest rate would be, should you decide to finance a home purchase.
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