Rates Hold Steady

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose from 6.16% to 6.17% for the seven-day period ended April 5, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.The average 15-year fixed mortgage rate rose from 5.86% to 5.87%, the average rate for five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages climbed from 5.88% to 5.92%, and the average rate for one-year Treasury-indexed ARMs increased from 5.43% to 5.44%, Freddie Mac reported. Fees and points averaged 0.4 of a point for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, 0.5 of a point for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, and 0.6 of a point for ARMs. "Mortgage rates have remained within a narrow band of 0.1 percentage point over every week in March," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist. "This relative stability is due to mixed economic data releases as to how strong the economy is and whether future inflation will recede. One bright spot this week came from an unexpected increase in pending home sales for February, which suggests the housing market is still healthy." A year ago, the average 30-year and 15-year fixed rates were 6.43% and 6.10%, respectively, and the average hybrid and one-year ARM rates were 6.11% and 5.57%, Freddie Mac said. Freddie Mac can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.