Mortgage Rates Hold Steady

McLEAN, Va. - (01/06/06) -- Home mortgage rates were littlechanged this week, as financing activity slowed in the daysfollowing New Year's, according to Freddie Mac. The average for thebenchmark 30-yea, fixed-rate loans slipped slightly to 6.21% thisweek, from 6.22% last week; while the average for the 15-year,fixed-rate mortgage was unchanged at 5.76%. The average for theone-year ARM rose just slightly to 5.16%, from 5.15%; while theaverage for the five-year ARM slipped to 5.78%, from 5.79%."Financial markets paused this week, trying to decipher theDecember minutes of the Federal Reserve's monetary policycommittee, which seemed to hint that the Fed might slow the pace ofrate hikes in 2006," said Frank Nothaft, chief economist forFreddie Mac. "As a result, mortgage rates were little changed thisweek. Interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages currently arebelow the monthly averages set in November and December of2005."