Interest Rate Update from HSH Associates

Excerpts from HSH Associates newsletter for the week ended January 12, 2007:

After declining to fourteen-month lows in December, mortgage rates rose about an eighth percent, but seem to have found at least a temporary plateau. The national average for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage (FRM) edged lower by a single basis point this week to finish the nation’s leading survey of mortgage prices at 6.28%. Five-one Hybrid ARMs move a single tick in the other direction, closing the HSH survey period at 6.18%.

While inflation seems to be slowly waning, economic growth is managing to hold at moderate levels. As we finally clear the holidays, it’s not uncommon for new patterns for rates to take shape. Underlying interest rates have been on the uptick for weeks now — the 10-year Treasury rising by about a quarter-percentage point off its recent bottom — but so far, the effect on mortgage rates has been limited. With a busier ‘data week’ on tap for next week, we’re of the opinion that rates will start to tick higher again.

                                                     Fixed Rate                   Variable

Survey Area	15 Year	30 Year	Composite	1 Year	Composite
NW/National	6.00%	6.28%	6.15%	5.90%	6.12%
CA/Statewide	6.07%	6.33%	6.21%	5.96%	6.17%