Mortgage rates ease as inflation fears cool30-year loan rate is down for first time in six weeks after moderate CPI and PPI readings.NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Mortgage rates fell for the first time in six weeks, Freddie Mac said Thursday, on signs that inflation pressures are moderating. The average rate on 30-year fixed-rate loans fell to 6.17 percent for the week ending April 18, from 6.22 percent the previous week, the mortgage finance firm said. Last year at this time, 30-year mortgage rates averaged 6.53 percent.
"Mortgage rates slipped following the latest reports of moderation in inflation rates from the core producer price and consumer price indexes," Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, said in a statement. "This helped calm markets and brought mortgage rates down." Nothaft also noted that low mortgage rates may help stabilize the housing sector, which showed some signs of resilience recently. Both housing starts and building permits - often seen as a measure of builders' confidence in the market - climbed unexpectedly in March, the Census Bureau reported earlier this week. "We will have to see what the numbers show later in the spring to gauge whether the March readings are indeed a signal of market turnaround," added Nothaft. The rate on 15-year loans averaged 5.89 percent from 5.90 percent the previous week, Freddie Mac said. A year ago, the 15-year rate averaged 6.17 percent. Five-year adjustable-rate mortgages fell to 5.92 percent from 5.93 percent last week. The five-year ARM averaged 6.16 percent a year ago. The average one-year adjustable-rate mortgage eased to 5.45 percent, down from 5.47 percent the previous week. At this time last year, the loan averaged 5.63 percent. Home Forecast: 100 biggest markets |
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