Mortage Rates Highest since 2002

June 23, 2006 |

Interest rates have been steadily rising for some time now.  The issue has been how much the increase has affected the real estate market.  My opinion has always been that rising interest rates are not the chief cause of the real estate slowdown.  The fact that rates were historically low not too long ago did lead to more first-time buyers entering the market.  Now that pool of buyers is drying up, and as interest rates move back to normal, so will the market. 

One thing that rising rates have affected is the number of refinance applications. Check out the follwing article about the recent rise in interest rates:

Mortgage Rates Hit 4-Year High

(June 22, 2006) — An increase in mortgage costs last week discouraged home owners from refinancing.

Refinancing’s share of all loan applications slipped to 35.5 percent last week from 35.7 percent the previous week, and was down 43 percent from the same time last year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The MBA says its Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, last week declined 0.8 percent to 567.6.

The average rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage jumped to 6.73 percent, the highest it’s since May 2002. The average rate for a 15-year, fixed-rate mortgage increased to 6.37 percent and a one-year ARM increased to 6.22 percent.

— REALTOR® Magazine Online

Posted by Daniel | Filed Under Finance, News 

Comments

Got something to say?





Creative Commons License