Mortgage Rates Hold Steady

McLEAN, Va. - (09/16/05) -- Mortgage rates edged slightly higherthis week as the bond markets tried to digest the after-effects ofHurricane Katrina and to predict that the Fed will do withshort-term rates next week. The average for the benchmark 30-year,fixed-rate loan moved to 5.74% this week, from 5.71% last week;while the average for the 15-year, fixed-rate mortgage inched up to5.32%, from 5.30%. ARM rates also edged slightly higher, as theaverage for the one-year ARM rose to 4.46%, from 4.45% last week;and the average for the five-year ARM rose to 5.26%, from 5.24%."Mortgage rates were relatively unchanged this week as the marketswait for the results of the upcoming Federal Reserve policycommittee meeting," said Frank Nothaft, chief economist at FreddieMac. "Core Consumer Price Index (CPI) released this week came inlower than had been expected, which led the market to believe thatthe Fed has further room to take a pause in raising rates and thishas kept financial markets fairly quiet this week." The Fed isscheduled to meet next week on Sept. 20.