Mortgage rates were little changed this week, lender Freddie Mac said Thursday.
The relatively stagnant rates follow some seesawing over the last few weeks, coming off of a two-year high set last month.
This week, the rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose just one-hundredth of a percentage point to 4.4 percent, but still remained below that July high of 4.51 percent. A year ago, the rate averaged 3.59 percent.
The rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage was unchanged at 3.43 percent. A year ago, the rate averaged 2.84 percent.
Freddie Mac Chief Economist Frank Nothaft attributed the pause in rates to the mixed July unemployment report.
The national unemployment rate last month fell to its lowest level since December 2008, but the economy added fewer jobs than had been expected last month. And revisions for the previous two months reported at the same time showed that fewer jobs were created than originally believed.
Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-mortgage-rates-flat-20130808,0,2084626.story
The relatively stagnant rates follow some seesawing over the last few weeks, coming off of a two-year high set last month.
This week, the rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose just one-hundredth of a percentage point to 4.4 percent, but still remained below that July high of 4.51 percent. A year ago, the rate averaged 3.59 percent.
The rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage was unchanged at 3.43 percent. A year ago, the rate averaged 2.84 percent.
Freddie Mac Chief Economist Frank Nothaft attributed the pause in rates to the mixed July unemployment report.
The national unemployment rate last month fell to its lowest level since December 2008, but the economy added fewer jobs than had been expected last month. And revisions for the previous two months reported at the same time showed that fewer jobs were created than originally believed.
Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-mortgage-rates-flat-20130808,0,2084626.story