Florida Home Mortgage Loan Market Sees Slight Rate Increases Over Last Week
According to the weekly survey of the nation’s lenders by mortgage finance company Freddie Mac, mortgage rates inched up slightly last week.
Rates on 30-year, fixed-rate Florida home loans, the most common financing option and considered the industry benchmark, averaged 6.63 percent last week. That’s a slight bump up from from 6.62 percent a week ago. At the same time, 15-year fixed-rate mortgages rose 0.02 percent to 6.25.
One-year adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) inched up similarly, averaging 5.66 percent for the week after coming in at 5.63 percent last week.
As a result of shifting market trends and efforts to gauge the short- and long-term economic progress in the U.S., rates have bobbed and weaved over the last six months, but generally have moved higher. A year ago, 30-year Florida home loan rates averaged 5.63 percent, 15-year mortgages were at 5.22 percent and one-year ARMs were just 4.25 percent.
“Mixed economic indicators are causing some volatility in financial markets. This invariably leads to the fluctuations in mortgage rates like what we have seen recently,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac V.P. and chief economist. “Still, there has been no drastic movement in mortgage rates and we see nothing on the horizon that would bring about any extreme rise or fall in rates going forward.”
The number of U.S. workers claiming an initial week of jobless aid fell by 8,000 last week, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. But the Federal Reserve reported on the same day that a decline in U.S. industrial output for May could adversely impact the net flow of capital into U.S. assets.
Lenders charged an average of 0.5 points on 30-year mortgages in the latest week, the same as last. They charged 0.6 percent on 15-year mortgages, up from 0.5 percent, and the one-year ARM, down from 0.8 percent. Across the nation, refinancing is on the rise as more residents are angling for fixed-rate loans.
The hybrid “5/1″ ARM, set at a fixed rate for five years, then adjustable each year following, averaged 6.23 percent, up from 6.20 percent last week, and up from an extremely low 5.10 percent a year ago.
Despite widespread market uncertainty, Freddie Mac has predicted that the U.S. housing sector may cool significantly but will not crash. In particular, international buyers and retiring baby boomers will keep things steady as far as the Sunshine State is concerned. While the days of meteoric appreciation gains may be over, the Florida housing market should remain a safe, strong investment over the next decade.
