Rates on the most popular types of mortgages moved upward, according to HSH.com’s Weekly Mortgage Rates Radar. The average rate for conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose by seven basis points (0.07 percent) to 3.68 percent. Conforming 5/1 Hybrid ARM rates increased by three basis points, closing the Wednesday-to-Tuesday wraparound weekly survey at an average of 2.62 percent.

“After reaching lows for the year just four weeks ago, and despite plenty of mixed economic signals, 30-year fixed mortgage rates have quickly moved back to near this year’s highs,” said Keith Gumbinger, vice president of HSH.com. “Rising stock markets, with their promise of better returns, continue to draw investor money out of safe-haven investments such as bonds. Yields are increasing as a result, pulling mortgage rates along with them.”

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Rates on the most popular types of mortgages took divergent paths this week according to HSH.com’s Weekly Mortgage Rates Radar. The average rate for conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose by two basis points (0.02 percent) to 3.53 percent. Conforming 5/1 Hybrid ARM rates decreased by four basis points, closing the Wednesday-to-Tuesday wraparound weekly survey at an average of 2.57 percent.

“After a pretty solid report on hiring in March, and a decline in the unemployment rate to 7.5 percent, fixed-rate mortgages broke a six-week slide,” said Keith Gumbinger, vice president of HSH.com. “Although some firming of fixed rates will continue this week, we will remain very near record lows, and certainly well within 2013 ranges.”

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Rates on the most popular types of mortgages eased a little, according to HSH.com’s Weekly Mortgage Rates Radar. The average rate for conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell by two basis points (0.02 percent) to 3.72 percent. Conforming 5/1 Hybrid ARM rates decreased by a single basis point, closing the Wednesday-to-Tuesday wraparound weekly survey at an average of 2.67 percent.

“The mixed bag of economic signals seen lately seems to have investors more pensive than they have been recently,” said Keith Gumbinger, vice president of HSH.com. “Although pretty solid as a group, upward momentum in housing has lessened, consumer moods have turned a little darker, and even the Fed has lowered its expectations for growth for the rest of 2013 a bit.”

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Our latest Market Trends newsletter warned we were in for a rate increase this week. Our forecast was correct. According to our latest weekly mortgage rates report, there was a sizeable increase in rates from the week prior.

Rates on the most popular types of mortgages rose sharply this week according to HSH.com’s Weekly Mortgage Rates Radar. The average rate for conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased by nine basis points (0.09 percent) to 3.73 percent. Conforming 5/1 Hybrid ARM rates rose by 10 basis points, closing the Wednesday-to-Tuesday wraparound weekly survey at an average of 2.72 percent. Read the rest of this entry »

Rates on the most popular types of mortgages were slightly higher or flat compared to last week 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 3.67 percent. Conforming 5/1 Hybrid ARM rates were unchanged, closing the Wednesday-to-Tuesday wraparound weekly survey at an average of 2.71 percent.

Good news is the culprit

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For the last few weeks, mortgage rates have floated up and down by only a few basis points here and there.

“Mortgage rates are mostly wandering around directionless,” said Keith Gumbinger, vice president of HSH.com, in our latest Mortgage Rates Radar. “They continue backing and filling, waiting for clear signals that the economy is picking up steam or losing it. With the tax bite from the fiscal cliff solution just starting to show in paychecks, it’s a fair bet that some slowdown in spending is likely. How much is anyone’s guess at this point.” Read the rest of this entry »

Rates on the most popular types of mortgages moved in different directions this week, according to HSH.com’s Weekly Mortgage Rates Radar. The average rate for conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose by two basis points (0.02 percent) to 3.47 percent. Conforming 5/1 Hybrid ARM rates decreased by three basis points, closing the Wednesday-to-Tuesday wrap-around weekly survey at an average of 2.65 percent.

“We’re moving closer to not only the ‘fiscal cliff,’ but also to the end of the quarter and year, not to mention the holidays,” said Keith Gumbinger, vice president of HSH.com. “Investors seem undecided as to whether a deal will get done, and seem unclear where to park their funds to make the best of the situation one way or the other.”

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Sales of newly built homes showed new signs of life in September, adding to the evidence of an upswing in the housing markets.

Sales of new single-family houses rose to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 389,000 in September, according to data released jointly by the U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). That pace, which represents an estimate of total sales if the current rate continued for 12 months, was up 5.7 percent compared with August and up 27.1 percent compared with September 2011. The median price of these homes was $242,400 last month.

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Rates on the most popular types of mortgages were mixed this week, according to HSH.com’s Weekly Mortgage Rates Radar. The average rate for conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose by 10 basis points (0.10 percent) to 3.79 percent, while conforming 5/1 Hybrid ARM rates decreased by a single basis point, closing the Wednesday-to-Tuesday wraparound weekly survey at an average of 2.78 percent.

“Mortgage and other interest rates have climbed a little off rock-bottom lows, at least for the moment,” said Keith Gumbinger, vice president of HSH.com. “Over the past couple of weeks, there has been an absence of terrible economic news to keep downward pressure on rates, but just enough encouraging signs to lift them above record lows.”

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Below is an excerpt from the latest Mortgage Rates Radar from HSH.com:

HSH.com releases its latest Weekly Mortgage Rates Radar showing a downturn in mortgage rates from the previous week. The Weekly Mortgage Rates radar reports the average rates and points offered by lenders for the two most popular types of mortgages, the conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and the conforming 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM). Average rates for both moved downward during the week ending July 03.

Rates on the most popular types of mortgages declined again, according to HSH.com’s Weekly Mortgage Rates Radar. The average rate for conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell by three basis points (0.03 percent) to 3.78 percent, trying a record low. Conforming 5/1 Hybrid ARM rates decreased by two basis points, closing the Wednesday-to-Tuesday wraparound weekly survey at new record average 2.81 percent.

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