4.00: Mortgage Rates Move Down Slightly

• June 18th 2015

by Lark Turner

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Good news for buyers: Mortgage rates moved down slightly last week after spending several weeks at 2015 highs, Freddie Mac reported Thursday.

Still, rates stayed in the 4 percent range, if barely. Freddie Mac reported 4.00 with an average 0.7 point as the average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. That’s down from the 2015 high of 4.04 last week and down from 4.17 percent a year ago.

In a news release, Len Kiefer, Freddie Mac’s deputy chief economist, said the rates were down slightly in spite of good news in the housing market.

“Mortgage rates were down this week while housing data were generally positive,” Kiefer said. “Although housing starts dropped 11.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted pace of 1.04 million units in May, housing permits surged 11.8 percent to its highest level since August 2007. Reinforcing this positive momentum, the NAHB housing market index rose 5 points in June, suggesting home builders are very optimistic about home sales in the near future.”

UrbanTurf is following the path of the rates in this chart:

The UrbanTurf Mortgage Rate Disclaimer: The rates reported by Freddie Mac for 30-year mortgages are usually the best rates that the most qualified borrowers can get, so borrowers or those considering refinancing should not necessarily read this news and think that they can go out and get a loan with the quoted interest rate.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.production.logicbrush.com/articles/blog/4.00_mortgage_rates_stay_above_4_percent_barely/10020.