Average mortgage rates in the U.S. edged down in the latest
week, remaining near historic lows, according to mortgage-finance
company Freddie Mac (FMCC).
"Mortgage rates were little changed amid a week of light
economic reports," Freddie Mac Chief Economist Frank Nothaft said
in a statement Thursday.
Among those few reports, U.S. industrial production edged up
0.2% in June from the previous month but missed market
expectations, Mr. Nothaft noted. And the producer-price index for
final demand, which measures changes in the prices firms receive
for their goods and services, rose 0.4% in June from the prior
month, rebounding after a 0.2% decline during May.
For the week ended Thursday, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage
averaged 4.13 %, compared with 4.15% a week earlier and 4.37% a
year earlier. Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.23%,
compared with 3.24% the previous week and 3.41% a year earlier.
Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages, or
ARMs, on average, were at 2.97%, compared with 2.99% the previous
week and 3.17% a year earlier. One-year Treasury-indexed ARM rates
on average were 2.39%, compared with 2.4% the previous week and
2.66% a year earlier.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
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