National average mortgage rates are experiencing a slow but steady backtrack from record lows, according to official weekly mortgage data.
According to leading housing market analysts, economic news has been mostly positive over the past couple of weeks and has resulted in renewed confidence in investors, who have been moving money away from safe haven bonds and back into more risky ventures. Such moves are known to spur gradual rises in interest rates and mortgage rates across the US.
There may also have been a number of technical factors contributing to the rise in this week’s rates, with fee increases imposed by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to major lender perhaps showing signs of filtering through to borrowers.
With regard to specific mortgage rates of key interest, national home purchase mortgages for the week ending January 24th included the standard 30 year fixed rate loan at 4.08%, while the 5/1 ARM option began at 3.00%.
For the week prior ending January 17th, the national averages were at 4.02% for the 30 year fixed rate purchase mortgage, while the 5/1 ARM rested at a slightly lower 2.97%.
In related news, mortgage application volumes once again decreased in the course of last week by 5%, according to the official finding of the Mortgage Bankers Association. Refinances were down by a total of 5.2%, while purchases saw a slip of 5.4% in the week ending Friday.
The declines follows a recent surge of over 23%, as buyers flocked to make use of some of the lowest mortgage rates seen in recent history.
