Florida Mortgage Loan Rates Decline
Florida mortgage rates declined slightly over the past week, as home loan costs on 30-year fixed-rate financing products fell for the first time since back early in March.
The 30-year Florida mortgage averaged 6.17 percent for the week ending April 18, down from its 6.22 percent average last week.
The benchmark Florida mortgage averaged 6.53 percent a year ago.
“Mortgage rates slipped following latest reports of moderation in inflation from the core producer price and consumer price indexes,” said Frank Nothaft, chief economist for Freddie Mac, which compiled the weekly survey of the nation’s mortgage rates.
“Excluding food and energy, the core inflation rate for consumer prices rose by 2.5 percent year-over-year, the smallest annual growth since May 2006. This helped calm markets and brought mortgage rates down.”
The 15-year fixed-rate home loan, a popular option for people interested in Florida mortgage refinancing, exhibited a slighter decline over the week, averaging 5.89 percent, down from its 5.90 percent average last week.
This Florida home loan option averaged 6.17 percent a year ago.
Five-year, hybrid ARMs averaged 5.92 percent over the week, down slightly from last week’s 5.93 percent and 6.16 percent a year ago.
One-year Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate mortgage loans, meanwhile, averaged just 5.45 percent for the week, down from last week’s 5.47 percent average and 5.63 percent a year ago.
To obtain the rates quoted above, 30- and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages required payment of an average 0.5 points. The 5-year ARM required an average 0.6 points and the 1-year ARMs 0.7 points.
“The low mortgage rates that have prevailed so far in 2007 may have a stabilizing effect on the housing sector,” Nothaft said.
Several economists also note out that housing starts and new permits for March came in above expectations. February’s housing starts data, however, has been revised negatively in the Sunshine State.
A separate survey released on Wednesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association found that Florida home mortgage application volume decreased a seasonally adjusted 2.5 percent for the week ending April 13.
SOURCE: MarketWatch
