Mortgage rates move upward
by Tim Manni
Rates on the most popular types of mortgages moved higher, according to HSH.com’s Weekly Mortgage Rates Radar. The average rate for conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose by four basis points (0.04 percent) to 3.51 percent. Conforming 5/1 Hybrid ARM rates increased by eleven basis points, closing the Wednesday-to-Tuesday wraparound weekly survey at an average of 2.74 percent.
“Fairly solid reports about the start of the holiday retail season have lent some optimism about the state of the economy, lifting rates a bit,” said Keith Gumbinger, vice president of HSH.com. “Despite ongoing economic challenges, consumers seem willing to open their wallets and that should help push the economy forward through the fourth quarter of 2012.”
A new third-quarter estimate for GDP is due out on Thursday. The initial estimate showed a two percent rate of growth.
“We still have the ‘fiscal cliff’ approaching, and no agreement is yet in place,” noted Gumbinger, “but that both sides are at least talking about getting an agreement in place is a positive signal that an economic collapse is less likely to come in early 2013. That said, any deal which avoids Armageddon will still likely weigh on the economy, but economic prospects would be brighter with one in place than without.”
