Are Mortgage Rates Back on the Rise?

After several months of mortgage rates dropping to incredible and unbelievable lows, could it be possible that those rates are starting to head back up? According to reports by Freddie Mac, the average rates for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage increased for the first time in five weeks. This week, the rates went up 0.02 percent from 4.19 percent to 4.21 percent. That might not seem like a large increase, but that’s because it really isn’t. During this same week last year, mortgage rates were around 5 percent so they are still at historic lows. To get these low rates for a 30-year mortgage, home buyers must pay 0.8 of a point, which is one percent of the amount of the actual loan.

Mortgage rates for 30-year fixed loans were not the only ones that rose, though. The current rates for a 15-year fixed-rate loan are averaging 3.64 percent, which is also a 0.02 percent increase from last week’s numbers. Last year those numbers were standing at about 4.43 percent.

In addition to this good news, housing construction is on the upswing. According to Frank Nothaft, the vice president and chief economist at Freddie Mac, September saw a 4.4 percent increase in construction of new one-family homes. That’s as high as those numbers have been in several months. But that’s not all. Homebuilder confidence also rose to its highest in October than it has been in several months.

These are all good snippets of news for the mortgage industry and for home buyers as well. One of the things that is holding the housing industry back, however, is that the banks are being more strict about who they will loan money to. Lending institutions are hesitant to loan money to buyers who do not have at least very good credit because that’s what happened before and that’s part of the reason for the mess the mortgage industry is in now. If restrictions were loosened a bit, the housing industry could bounce back quicker. What do you think?