Mortgage Rates Move Slightly Today (7/31/13)

Mortgage rates saw little change on Tuesday, and they opened the day on Wednesday with little variation from the previous day’s rates.  On the national average, the best execution 30-year fixed rate had increased .01 percent, landing at 4.48 percent. The 15-year fixed rate also saw an increase of .01 percent landing at 3.67 percent. The FHA 30-year note remains unchanged at 4.25 percent.

The Jumbo 30-year loan remains unchanged and sets at 4.53 percent. The 5/1 ARM saw an improvement of .01 percent and the rate fell to 3.25 percent.

Fees and closing costs can play a significant role in the overall cost of a mortgage, so it is pointed out those fees and costs do vary from lender to lender. Therefore, a lender with a higher rate may offer overall lower costs because they may have no closing costs or fees compared to a lender with lower rates that adds closing costs and fees on to the overall charges.

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Many say rate changes could be looming in the distance and are dependent upon the statement that will be issued from the July meeting of the Federal Reserve. After the June meeting, Fed Chair Ben Bernanke emphasized the employment rate was not at the level the board wanted it to be before bond buying scaled back, and he led the public to believe the bond buying would continue into next year. Since then, a new jobs report has been released, so the question is will the sentiment remain the same?

If the bond buying continues into next year, experts say mortgage rates will remain low and see little fluctuation. If bond buying begins to be reduced in the fall, such as around September, many experts believe mortgage rates will begin to increase. Mortgage rates did spike in early July as many though the bond buyback would start scaling back, but even with the hikes at the time, mortgage rates remained at historic lows.

According to experts, those who have not yet refinanced their loans could still save money by taking advantage of the lower rates at this time as long as they shop around for lower fees and closing costs. However, the window of opportunity for cheaper refinancing may be closing soon. Statistics show fewer people have been refinancing in recent months, and that could be a mixture of the rising rates and the number of people who have already taken advantage of the lower rates.

Disclaimer: The rates quoted above are basically the average advertised by a particular lending company. No guarantee of taken from the lender’ aspect whether the borrower will qualify for the mortgage rates mentioned in the article. The lenders dole out interest depending upon various facets, some of which may be unique to the borrower. This website does not engage in the sale or promotion of financial products and makes no claims as to the accuracy of the quotation of interest rates.