Higher Mortgage Rates - Freddie Mac reports higher average mortgage rates for the second week in a row, after a long streak of record declines, but Chief Economist Frank Nothaft said they edged up following stronger jobs-market data."Fixed mortgage rates inched up again this week following stronger-than-expected employment reports," he said in a statement. "The economy added 163,000 jobs in July, well above the market consensus forecast of 100,000, and the largest increase since February."
Layoffs also plunged 45% in July compared with a year ago. Of course, rates could slip again as the wobbly economy struggles to find firm footing. However, fixed-mortgage rates remain near historic lows.
For the week ended Thursday, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.59%, compared with 3.55% the previous week and 4.32% a year earlier. Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 2.84%, versus 2.83% a week earlier and 3.5% a year ago.
Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages, or ARMs, averaged 2.77%, compared with 2.75% the previous week and the 3.13% rate set a year earlier. One-year Treasury-indexed ARM rates averaged 2.65%, compared with 2.7% the prior week and 2.89% set a year ago.
On Tuesday, Freddie Mac reported a net income of $1.2 billion for the past three months, meaning the mortgage giant won’t require any additional federal aid after requesting $19 million in government funding during the first quarter of 2012. Americans currently holding mortgages also fared better in the second quarter, as the number behind on their payments reached its lowest point in three years, according to data analysis published earlier this week by TransUnion. During the second quarter, only 5.49 percent of mortgage holders were behind on their payments by at least two months, down from 5.78 percent during the first quarter of 2012.
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