Mortgage Rates Edged Higher This Week

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.89 percent this week, up slightly from 3.84 percent last week, on the heels of global economic turmoil and a lack of new information on The Federal Reserve’s next rate meeting. Mortgage rates are still well below their levels of a year ago.

“The 30-year mortgage rate increased 5 basis points, but don’t read too much into that,” says Sean Becketti, chief economist at Freddie Mac. “The Fed took great pains at the Jackson Hole conference to keep all their options open and to avoid making too much — or too little — of the situation in China and the volatility in global equity markets. This Friday’s employment report is the last piece of significant, solid evidence the FOMC will have to consider before their September decision. The Street appears to be calling it a coin flip. There won’t be a clear direction for mortgage rates until the Fed makes its September decision, at the earliest.”

Freddie Mac reports the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending Sept. 3:

•     30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.89 percent with an average 0.6 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.84 percent. Last year, the 30-year rates averaged 4.10 percent.
•     15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.09 percent with an average 0.6 point, up from last week from the 3.06 percent average. Last year, 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.24 percent.
•     5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 2.93 percent with an average 0.4 point, up from last week’s average of 2.90 percent. Last year, the 5-year adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 2.97 percent.
•     1-year Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 2.62 percent with an average 0.3 point, unchanged from last week. Last year, the 1-year adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 2.40 percent.

“Copyright NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. Reprinted with permission”