Mortgage Rates Up For 6th Week
Rates At Highest Level In Nearly Four Years
POSTED: 1:05 pm EDT May 4, 2006
UPDATED: 1:15 pm EDT May 4, 2006
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McLEAN, Va. -- Mortgage rates are up for the sixth time in as many weeks, to their highest level in nearly four years. Freddie Mac said Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.59 percent this week compared with last week's average of 6.58 percent.Last year at this time, the 30-year rate averaged 5.75 percent.A competing survey from Bankrate.com had 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages at 6.67 percent this week.Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist, said that while mortgage rates will continue to rise over the coming year, the uptick "will be modest at best."Even so, he predicted that the higher rates may keep some homeowners from refinancing their mortgage. "Fewer families will be refinancing; but of those who are, a larger percentage will be drawing some equity out of their homes, many to pay off previously existing home-equity loans and lines of credit as these loans become more expensive," Nothaft predicted.Freddie Mac said that rates on 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages, a popular choice for refinancing a home mortgage, also edged up this week to 6.22 percent, from 6.21 percent last week.
Previous Stories:
- April 27, 2006: Mortgage Rates Hit Highest Level In Nearly 4 Years
- March 23, 2006: Mortgage Rates Slide For Second Straight Week
- February 23, 2006: Long-Term Mortgage Rates Fall
- January 19, 2006: Mortgage Rates Fall To 3-Month Low
- December 1, 2005: Hot Home Prices Cool Slightly
- November 17, 2005: Mortgage Rates Up Slightly
- November 11, 2005: 30-Year Mortgages Climb Again
- November 3, 2005: Long-Term Mortgage Rates Hit 6.3 Percent
- October 20, 2005: 30-Year Mortgage Rates Hit 15-Month High
- October 13, 2005: 30-Year Mortgage Rates Top 6 Percent
- October 6, 2005: Mortgage Rates Rise On Inflation Jitters
- October 5, 2005: Interest-Only Mortgages Popular But Risky
- September 29, 2005: Rates On 30-Year Mortgages Hit 5-Month High
- September 22, 2005: Survey: $1.7M Difference For Same Size Home
- September 15, 2005: Mortgage Rates Inch Higher
- September 8, 2005: Rates On 30-Year Mortgages Hold Steady
- August 18, 2005: Mortgage Rates Ease Slightly
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