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Mortgage rates ease
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August 19, 1999: 1:36 p.m. ET
Rates decline as CPI, PPI suggest inflation is in check, Freddie Mac says
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Mortgage rates fell back this week after economic data soothed inflation fears, mortgage firm Freddie Mac reported Thursday.
For the week ending Aug. 20, the average rate on U.S. 30-year fixed-rate mortgages was 7.93 percent, down from last week's 8.15 percent. One year ago, the rate was 6.92 percent.
Fifteen-year loan rates fell to 7.53 percent from 7.70 percent the week before. The rate for these mortgages averaged 6.61 percent for the same period last year.
One-year adjustable-rate mortgages were 6.18 percent, down from last week's 6.24 percent. A year ago, the rate was 5.58 percent.
(Click here to see a breakdown of average mortgage rates by U.S. region.)
"When the Producer Price Index came in lower than expected and the Consumer Price Index results were right on target, the market breathed a collective sigh of relief," said Robert Van Order, chief economist at Freddie Mac. "As fears of inflation and the Federal Reserve action began to abate, interest rates began to fall back as well."
Van Order predicted that the Fed will still take action to raise rates later this year, but by a smaller margin than previously expected.
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