MORTGAGE INTEREST
MSNBC reports that the inevitable has finally happened:
Mortgage rates around the country edged up this week, contributing to a slowdown in home refinancing.
FOR THE WEEK ENDING Nov. 14, the average rate on 30-year mortgages rose to 6.03 percent, up from 5.98 percent the previous week, mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday in its weekly nationwide survey of mortgage rates.
In mid-June, rates on 30-year mortgages slid to 5.21 percent, the lowest level in more than four decades. Since then, rates on these benchmark mortgages have bounced up and down.
For 15-year mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, rates increased to 5.39 percent from 5.31 percent last week. Rates for one-year adjustable mortgages averaged 3.76 percent, up from last week̢۪s 3.73 percent.
Even with the recent gyration in mortgage rates, home sales are expected to set new record highs this year. And, 2004 could turn out to be the second-best year on record, predicts David Lereah, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors.
I’m glad I got in when I did; most of my loan is at 5%, although it’s a 5-year ARM. Still, these rates are historically low. I was quite pleased to be able to buy my first house at 7% back in 1998. And in 1980 my dad spent the night sleeping on a sidewalk in order to ensure getting something like an 11% rate (13% or higher was the norm).
