Rate Update: The Interest Rates Remain Steady, for Now

Now that the traditional buying and selling season is winding down, let’s take a look at mortgage interest rates over the past few months.

For the most part, the interest rates on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage have been fairly steady throughout the summer months. As you can see in the chart below from Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the rates have fluctuated only 0.17 percentage points on the 30-year fixed-rate and only 0.14 percentage points on the 15-year fixed-rate over the last five months. If anything, the rates have trended slightly downward since April, with July being the exception.

Incidentally, this stability in the rates is something we saw last summer, with a similar variance of 0.17 percentage points in the 30-year fixed and 0.12 percentage points in the 15-year fixed between April and August.

In looking at the weekly figures from the last six weeks, the stability in interest rates is even more pronounced, with only a 0.11 point variance in the 30-year fixed and only a 0.08 point variance in the 15-year fixed.

Much of this stability is coming from both upward and downward pressure on the rates. Typically, we see higher interest rates when the stock market is up, companies are reporting strong earnings and the Federal Reserve raises the key short-term interest rate—all things we’re currently seeing—but recent world events, concerns about the global economy and low inflation are applying downward pressure to the rates.

Of course, the big question is whether or not the rates will remain steady in the near future. With the Fed indicating that more rate hikes are coming and the U.S. economy continuing to strengthen, this current stability may be temporary. However, if there’s one thing we’ve learned about interest rates, it’s that they can be very unpredictable.

For more than 25 years, Omega Financial has been serving mortgage clients in Massachusetts. Our brokers have approximately 50 years in the mortgage business. You always will receive fast, courteous, and accurate information. Omega Financial, Inc. is a company duly licensed to operate in Massachusetts as a Mortgage Brokerage. We are located in the Town of Norwood, Massachusetts where we have been operating as Omega Financial Incorporated since 1988.

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