Freddie Mac recently released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing average fixed mortgage rates edging higher leading up to the federal budget deadline last week.
“Fixed mortgage rates edged up leading to the federal budget deadline this week. Recent confidence measures depict some of the effects of the government shutdown and uncertainty of the budget impasse,” says Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist, Freddie Mac. “For instance, consumer sentiment in October fell for the second straight month to the lowest reading since January, according to the University of Michigan. Similarly, October’s homebuilder confidence fell to a four-month low. However, despite these downturns in confidence, mortgage applications rose for the second consecutive week as of October 11th, elevated by increases in applications for refinancing.”
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.28 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending October 17, 2013, up from the previous week when it averaged 4.23 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.37 percent.
