Recap of Mortgage Rates from Today

Many experts have been expecting mortgage rates to increase any time now. However, the new reports do not show an increase across the board as many have been expecting.

The mortgage rates are still hovering around that five percent mark with the rates for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at about 4.5 percent. This figure changes slightly, however, depending on the actual area of the bank. The Zillow website tracks mortgage rates by the hour and its latest report showed the mortgage rates at about 4.77 percent for a 30-year fixed mortgages. That is about .04 percent lower than they were yesterday at about this time. Wells Fargo puts the rates slightly above Zillow’s findings with figures of 4.87 percent for a 30-year fixed. Bankrate.com’s numbers differ from these figures with reports of 5.06 percent on the 30-year mortgage rates.

The rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage is up to 4.21 percent according to Zillow’s hourly tracker. According to Wells Fargo, however, the rate for a 15-year fixed mortgage is 4.25 percent, just barely above that reported by Zillow. If you look at the numbers that Bankrate.com is reporting, you will notice that the 15-year fixed rate is up to 4.36 percent which is .01 percentage point lower than yesterday’s average.

Five-year adjustable mortgage rates are lower than both the 30-year fixed and the 15-year fixed. According to Bankrate’s numbers, these figures average about 3.92 percent while Wells Fargo has them listed at about 3.75 percent. Zillow ranks the five-year adjustable mortgage rates at about 3.58 percent, which is a jump of about .05 percent over yesterday’s numbers.

The Federal Reserve is actually meeting today to discuss the interest rates. We have not reached a satisfactory point in the economy yet and they want to discuss ideas on how to reach that level. We still have high unemployment numbers, weak consumer confidence and a record number of foreclosures happening all the time. Will the Feds try to increase mortgage rates right now or will they continue to keep them low? If they make the wrong decision, it could be even worse news for the American economy. In addition, the housing market recovery could be set back even longer if the Feds are not wise with their decisions. What do you think it will take to get us out of this mess? Is it something that needs to fix itself or are there some ideas that will help the process along?