Florida Mortgage Rates Hold Steady
Florida mortgage rates held onto last week’s substantial gains, ending mixed on the week, a Freddie Mac survey showed Thursday.
The government-sponsored loan buyer said the average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate Florida mortgage remained 6.73 percent for the week.
Last year at this time, 30-year Florida mortgage rates averaged 6.80 percent.
“In a week marked by stock indexes reaching new highs, mortgage rates lingered near the previous week’s level as the latest economic indicators did not affect inflation expectations significantly,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said.
“The most recent statistics suggest that the housing market has yet to reach a trough. Although June’s housing starts unexpectedly rose to 1.47 million units, construction of one-unit houses still saw a decline of 0.2 percent: At 1.15 million units, it was the slowest pace since January.”
While the concerns over bad credit Florida mortgage lending continue to linger, so far the delinquent loans have not resulted in major economic turmoil.
However, rising rates, among other factors, caused groups like the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) and the National Association of Realtors to push back forecasts for a recovery in home prices. Both groups are now looking to early 2008, compared with a previous outlook for mid-2007.
Doug Duncan, chief economist for the MBA, expects mortgage rates to top out near 7 percent by the end of the year. When rates go up, would-be buyers face higher mortgage payments, cutting into overall affordability.
Freddie Mac said that rates on 15-year fixed-rate loans - a popular option for Florida refinance seekers - averaged 6.38 percent in the latest week, down from 6.39 percent last week.
A year ago, the 15-year rate Florida mortgage rate averaged 6.41 percent.
Five-year adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 6.35 percent this week, unchanged from last week. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 6.36 percent.
One-year ARMs averaged 5.72 percent this week, up slightly from last week. At this time last year, they averaged 5.80 percent.
SOURCE: CNN Money
