Fixed-Rate Mortgage Rate Spike Subsides

Freddie Mac released its weekly update on national mortgage rates a day early Wednesday, giving homebuyers both good news and bad news.

Good news: 30-year fixed-rate mortgages (FRM) saw their interest rates subside. After last week's sharp spike, rates fell back 17 basis points to land at 4.29%. Fifteen-year FRMs similarly dropped -- down 11 b.p. to 3.39%.

Bad news: Variable-rate mortgage users got no such relief. One-year adjustable rate mortgages held steady at 2.66%; 5/1 ARMs inched up two basis points, to 3.10%.

Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist Frank Nothaft observed that "concerns over the timing of the Federal Reserve's pullback in bond purchases eased somewhat" last week, resulting in the pullback in FRMs. He noted, too, that "rates are still low by historical standards and should continue to aid in housing affordability and the ongoing recovery of the housing market."

The article Fixed-Rate Mortgage Rate Spike Subsides originally appeared on Fool.com.

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