Florida Mortgage Rates Rise Slightly

Florida mortgage rates moved up slightly over the past week, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly survey of lenders, released yesterday.

The 30-year fixed-rate Florida mortgage averaged 6.16 percent for the week ending March 22, up from last week’s 6.14 percent.

The industry’s benchmark home loan is still down considerably from its year-ago average: 6.32 percent.

Meanwhile, the 15-year fixed-rate Florida mortgage loan averaged just 5.90 percent over the week, up slightly from last week’s 5.88 percent average.

The 15-year Florida mortgage averaged 5.97 percent a year ago.

Five-year, Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable mortgage rates averaged 5.91 percent in the past seven days, up a bit from last week’s 5.90 percent. The ARMs averaged 5.96 percent a year ago.

One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs, conversely, moved in the opposite direction, averaging 5.40 percent for the week, down from 5.42 percent. The ARMs are now lower than at this time a year ago: 5.41 percent.

To obtain the rates, the 30- and 15-year Florida mortgages required 0.4 points on average, while 5-year ARMs required 0.6 points and 1-year ARMs 0.7 points.

In a news release, Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac V.P. and chief economist, said the following:

“Mortgage rates were stable this week as the bond market took readings on producer prices and consumer prices in stride… core inflation at the wholesale level was up more than anticipated… Weighing relevant factors, The Fed decided to leave [interest rates] unchanged.”

February’s new and existing home sales, due out soon, will help provide more insight about the health of the Florida housing market.

Wednesday, a Mortgage Bankers Association report showed that Florida home loan application volume decreased 2.7 percent in the week ending March 16.

SOURCE: MarketWatch