Freddie Sees Rates Creeping Up

In Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the week ending April 11, 2003, interest rates for fixed-rate loans crept up while rates for ARMs were down slightly.The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.85%, with an average 0.6 point, inching up from 5.79% the previous week. The 15-year FRM averaged 5.17% with an average of 0.6 point, also creeping up from the previous week's average of 5.06%. But one-year Treasury-indexed adjustable rate mortgages were down slightly from the week before, coming in at 3.80% with an average of 0.6 point. That's down from 3.82% the previous week. "With the conflict in Iraq seemingly under control, the financial markets have shifted focus back onto the economy," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac chief economist. "And what the markets discovered is that we seem to be in another 'soft spot.'" Freddie Mac's website address is http://www.freddiemac.com.