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Mortgage rates flat
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September 7, 2000: 2:44 p.m. ET
Economic indicators showing stable economy help to temper mortgage rates
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Mortgage rates continued to stay flat remaining below 8 percent for the third consecutive week, tempered by indicators signaling a stable economy, according to a report released this week by Freddie Mac.
A 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 7.94 percent for the week ending Sept. 8, almost unchanged from 7.96 a week earlier. The same mortgage was 7.88 percent a year earlier.
The average for a fixed-rate 15-year mortgage was 7.65 percent, down from last week's average of 7.67 percent. Last August, the rate was 7.49 percent.
A one-year adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 7.33 percent, up from last week's average of 7.27 percent. The same mortgage averaged 6.21 percent a year ago.
 [Click here to see a breakdown of U.S. mortgage rates by region.]
"Job growth slowed in August, yet another sign economic growth may be easing," said Robert Van Order, chief economist for Freddie Mac. "And as economic growth slows, the chance of higher inflation becomes less of a threat, thereby reducing upward pressure on mortgage rates."
Van Order said, "With mortgage rates at current affordable levels and with all indications that the economy continues to be healthy, housing will also be healthy throughout this year."
In fact, a separate survey released by Freddie Mac this week showed that home values rose at an annualized rate of 6.9 percent nationwide in the second quarter of 2000, compared with the previous quarter.
But he said that along with the economy, however, housing will ease, back from the "all-time record levels of the past several years to something of a less frenetic pace."
Freddie Mac (FRE: Research, Estimates), or Federal Home Mortgage Corp., is a publicly traded company that the government established in 1970 to provide a flow of funds to mortgage lenders.
It buys mortgages from banks, bundles them, and then resells them as mortgage-backed securities. Its products, and the products of other similar entities, have become increasingly popular as an alternative to government-backed bonds, particularly with international investors. 
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