Justin Perry's Mortgage Blog

Inflation fears have driven mortgage rates to levels not seen since October 25th, 2007.  One of the biggest contributors was comments made by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke about the rising fear of inflation.  This left many economists to believe that the Fed will be increasing rates in upcoming meetings. 

The following are average mortgage rates published by Freddie Mac.  Keep in mind all these interest rates come with points so they will appear lower than what you can actually get without paying points for a home loan.   

Freddie Mac (FRE, Fortune 500) said 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.32% with an average of 0.7 point in the week ending Thursday, up from 6.09% last week. Last year at this time, the 30-year loan averaged 6.74%.

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage this week averaged 5.93% with an average 0.6 point, up from last week when it averaged 5.65%. A year ago at this time, the 15-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 6.43%.

The last time the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage was higher was the week ended Oct. 25, when it averaged 5.99%.

Five-year adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 5.70% this week, with an average 0.7 point, up from last week when it averaged 5.51%. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 6.37%.

One-year ARMs averaged 5.09% this week with an average 0.6 point, up from last week when it was 5.06%. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 5.75%.

If you are looking for some positive news here is some info released by the National Association of Realtors.  They say the number of homes under contract rose 6.3% in April which is due mostly to buyers looking for bargains.