28 June – 4 July 2009 Interest Rate Information Milwaukee Area

Source: Real Estate Section Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 28 June 2009

30-year mortgage rates are up again

Associated Press Washington- Rates for 30-year home loans edged up last week, remaining above record lows reached over the spring.  The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 5.42%, up from 5.38% a week earlier, mortgage company Freddie Mac said Thursday.  “Mixed economic reports on the state of the housing market helped hold mortgage rates fairly flat,” Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said in a statement.  Rates on 30-year mortgages fell to a record low of 4.78% this year.  But then they rose as high as 5.6% earlier this month after yields on long-term government debt, which are closely tied to mortgages rate, climbed as investors worried that the huge surplus of government debt hitting the market could trigger inflation.  Since then, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note has fallen back from an eight month high of 4.01% reached last week to 3.61% Thursday afternoon.  Although there are signs the troubled U.S. housing market is beginning to stabilize, higher rates could threaten or slow any recovery, since prospective buyers would be able to borrow less money and might decide to hold off on their purchases.