The following are excerpts from the newsletter from HSH Associates for the week ending June 20, 2008 ( See http://www.hsh.com/):
“The downward pull of a stagnant economy was again overwhelmed this week by concerns about inflation, and mortgage rates continued their weeks-long march upward. The overall average for 30-year fixed rate mortgages in HSH’s Fixed Rate Mortgage Indicator (FRMI) climbed by nearly a half-percentage point over the past month. Nominal interest rates for both kinds of loans are of course higher, but the difference between those average series narrowed to ‘just’ 99 basis points, the smallest spread since mid-March.”
6/24 6/17
| 30 yr fixed mtg | 6.30% |  |
6.34% | |
| 15 yr fixed mtg | 5.88% | |
5.94% | |
| 5/1 ARM | 5.76% | |
5.78% | |
| 30 yr fixed jumbo mtg | 7.34% | |
7.42% | |
| 5/1 jumbo ARM | 6.45% |  |
6.37% |
Source: www.bankrate.com
The Federal Reserves concern for inflation may lead it to start raising short term interest rates sometime in August. Inflation concerns may also have an adverse impact on longer term rates including mortgage rates. Now may be the best time in the forseable future to lock in long-term rates.
