Mortgage Rates Increase But Remain Low

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Applications Survey, average mortgage rates increased last week from one week earlier. Rates were up for both 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances and 15-year fixed-rate loans. Loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration fell slightly while jumbo loans were unchanged. Despite rising in recent weeks, mortgage rates remain historically low. However, the uptick has caused application demand to fall. In fact, it was down 5.1 percent last week from the week before. Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting, says the purchase market is still strong. “Conventional and government applications to buy a home declined last week, but purchase activity overall is still strong – up 15 percent from last year,” Kan said. Also in the report, the average loan size has hit another record high. It’s now $412,200. The MBA’s weekly survey has been conducted since 1990 and covers 75 percent of all retail residential mortgage applications. (source)