Mortgage rates are on the rise, although not much, according to Freddie Mac. The average rate for 30-year mortgages has increased to 3.34 percent, according to the agency’s most recent survey. Freddie Mac, or Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp (OTC:FMCC) also found that the average rate for a 15-year fixed rate increased slightly as well to 2.67 percent. Last year at this time, the average rate for a 30-year mortgage was 3.99 percent, and the average rate for a 15-year fixed rate mortgage was 3.27 percent.
A spokesperson for Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp (OTC:FMCC) said demand for mortgages has increased greatly as the interest rates for them have dropped, and it’s clear that the housing market is helping aid the nation in its economic recovery right now. Residential construction spending increased 3 percent from September to October, and pending home sales increased by 4.2 percent in October, reaching their highest reading since March 2007.
Jed Kolko, Trulia’s chief economist, released other positive findings on the housing market in the Huffington Post today. According to Kolko, Trulia’s Housing Barometer, which measures construction starts, existing home sales, and the delinquency plus foreclosure rate, shows improvements in all three categories.
In October we saw housing starts at a 4 percent increase from September. Kolko said housing starts are “41 percent of the way back to normal.” The barometer also indicated that October brought a recovery in existing home sales after they slipped the month before. According to Kolko, existing home sales are “59 percent back to normal.”
Also the delinquency plus foreclosure rate dropped to the lowest it has been since before the economic crisis. In October only 10.64 percent of mortgages were either delinquent or in foreclosure. This is the lowest level it has been at in four years.
