Florida Mortgage Rates Ease Slightly

Florida mortgage rates were mixed this week, with longer-term rates easing slightly, Freddie Mac said Thursday, on cooling inflationary fears.

The average rate on 30-year fixed-rate Florida home loans was 6.15 percent for the week ending May 10, down from 6.16 the previous week, the mortgage finance firm said.

Last year at this time, 30-year Florida home mortgage rates were significantly higher, averaging 6.58 percent.

“Low employment growth in April - the slowest pace since November 2004 - and downward trends in both February and March job growth have tempered market concerns of future increases in the rate of inflation,” Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac V.P. and chief economist, said.

“As a result, mortgage rates were little changed this week.”

Analysts also noted that Florida refinance continued to rise, as residents look to shift their home loans despite the slowdown in home prices.

In the first quarter of 2007, homeowners borrowed $70.5 billion in the form of Florida home equity loans, down from $77 billion the prior quarter.

Earlier this week, the National Association of Realtors said home prices would likely finish lower for the year, marking the first drop since the group started tracking values in 1968.

The rate on 15-year home loans averaged 5.87 percent, unchanged from the previous week, Freddie Mac said.

A year ago, the 15-year mortgage - for years, an extremely popular Florida mortgage refinancing option - averaged 6.17 percent.

Five-year adjustable-rate Florida mortgage loans eased to 5.89 percent up from 5.87 percent last week. The five-year ARM averaged 6.22 percent a year ago.

The average one-year adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 5.48 percent, up from 5.42 percent the previous week. At this time last year, the Florida home loan averaged 5.62 percent.

SOURCE: CNN Money