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Mortgage rates up

By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, March 31, 2003

McLean, Va. — Thirty-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.79%, with 0.6 points, for the week ended March 21, climbing from an average of 5.61% for the prior week, according to Freddie Mac. The 5.61% rate was the lowest in more than 40 years.

A year ago, the 30-year FRM average was 7.14%.

Regionally, the lowest 30-year FRM for the latest available week was the 5.72% average in the West, with 0.9 points.

For a 15-year FRM, the average for the week was 5.11%, with an average 0.6 points, rising from the week earlier rate of 4.93%. A year ago, the 15-year FRM averaged 6.65%.

Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist, said the war with Iraq "caused bond market yields to reverse their downward spiral of recent weeks and mortgage rates followed in tandem. But there are other uncertainties about the length of the conflict and its impact on the economy that will influence mortgage rates in the weeks to come, so this rise in rates may be only temporary."

Freddie Mac is the stockholder-owned corporation established by the U.S. Congress in 1970 to create a continuous flow of funds to mortgage lenders in support of homeownership and rental housing. The corporation purchases mortgages from lenders and packages them into securities that are sold to investors.

Fixed-rate mortgages

for the week ending 3/21/03
	Average 30-year rate	Fees & points
Source: Freddie Mac
U.S.	5.79%	0.6
Northeast	5.82	0.4
Southeast	5.79	0.7
North Central	5.86	0.4
Southwest	5.80	0.6
West	5.72	0.9
	Average 15-year rate	Fees & points
U.S.	5.11%	0.6
Northeast	5.13	0.4
Southeast	5.15	0.7
North Central	5.16	0.3
Southwest	5.16	0.6
West	5.02	0.9

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