According to Freddie Mac,mortgage interest rates have held pretty much steady for the past three weeks.  The 30 year fixed rate is holding at around 3.53% which is still less than the 3.87% a year ago.  The 15 year fixed rate remained at 2.77% compared to 3.16% last year.  The rates are still right around the record lows but are expected to rise this year.

According to Freddie Mac, mortgage rates have increased!  The rates had fallen in 13 of the past 14 weeks.  For the week ending August 2, the 30 year fixed rate mortgage was at 3.55% up from 3.49%, the 15 year fixed rate mortgage was also up to 2.83% from 2.8% and the 5 year adjustable rate mortgage was at 2.75% up from 2.74%.

Mortgage rates hold steady this past week according to Freddie Mac.  30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.66% for the week ending June 27th, matching the previous week’s record low. Last year at this time,the rate averaged 4.51%.  Freddie Mac Chief Economist Frank Nothaft said the virtually unchanged rates should help to support a recovering housing market.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price indexes showed more than a 0.5% monthly increase in April.  Pending existing home sales rebounded in May by 5.9% to match a two-year high and new home sales jumped 7.6% to its fastest pace since April 2010.

For the first time since late October mortgage rates top 4%!  The average rate for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage is at 4.08%, this increase is another sign that the housing market may be starting to turn around.  Industry analysts do expect mortgage rates to rise this year but the 30 year fixed rate they predict to be at most 4.5%.  Even though the rates may be going up, they are still way below the 7.1% average from 1990 – 2010!

The best advice I can give anyone who is thinking of buying would be to get out there and buy in the near future.  There is a shortage of homes for sale on the market which is also causing many multiple offer situations which drives up prices.  If you combine the lack of inventory and the increase in interest rates, the window of opportunity to buy at a great price with a great rate is slowly beginning to close!  If you are on the fence about buying, now is the time to get off!