Florida Mortgage Rates Inch Higher For Week

Florida mortgage rates hit their highest levels since November this week, Freddie Mac reported in a survey of the state’s lenders released late on Thursday.

The average 30-year fixed-rate Florida mortgage came in at 6.23 percent for the week ending January 18, up from the previous week’s average of 6.21 percent. A year ago, the home loan could be obtained at just 6.10 percent interest.

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage, meanwhile, averaged 5.98 percent for the week, up from last week’s 5.96 percent average and up more significantly from 5.67 percent a year ago at this time.

Hybrid, adjustable-rate home loans also inched higher, averaging 6.04 percent, compared with last week’s 6.03 percent average. The ARMs averaged just 5.75 percent a year ago.

One-year ARMs averaged 5.51 percent for the week, up from last week’s 5.44 percent average, and up from 5.18 percent a year ago. Across the board, bad credit Florida home loan rates were about 1 percent higher.

The drift upward follows positive economic reports.

“Shoppers bustling through the holiday season boosted December’s retail sales above consensus expectations. Concurrently, industrial production reversed a three-month decline and rose faster than anticipated,” Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, said in a news release.

He said that another contributor to America’s upcoming interest-rate movements, which heavily influence the direction of home mortgage rates, is inflation.

“In the coming year, we expect inflation on average to remain moderate at 2.5 percent, barring shocks from the energy sector, but concerns over the level of core inflation will continue to cause mortgage rates to fluctuate,” Nothaft said.

The 30-year and 15-year fixed-rate Florida mortgage rates quoted above, as well as the 5-year ARM, required payment of an average of 0.4 points.

The 1-year adjustable-rate Florida mortgage loans in this week’s survey required an average of 0.5 points. Home mortgage points are typically 1 percent of the home loan balance, and are generally charged as prepaid interest.

In a separate report released Wednesday, the Mortgage Bankers Association found that the volume of mortgage applications for the week ending January 12 decreased by 0.6 percent, indicating a still-tepid marketplace.