McLEAN, Va. – Home mortgage rates dipped last week after rising to nine-month highs the week before, according to Freddie Mac.
Frank Nothaft, chief economist for Freddie Mac, attributed last week’s declines to the Federal Reserve’s policy statement that it expects inflation to moderate this year and to May’s tepid increase in core personal consumption prices. He added that recent trading in Federal Funds futures indicated that “market participants lowered somewhat their expectations of future rate hikes by the Fed compared to last week.”
The average for the 30-year, fixed-rate loan slipped last week to 6.35%, from 6.45% the week before; while the average for the 15-year, fixed-rate mortgage fell to 5.92%, from 6.04%.
ARM rates also moved lower, with the average for the five-year ARM declining to 5.78%, from 5.99%; and the average for the one-year ARM dropping to 5.17%, from 5.27% the prior week.
