Below is a report that indicates that the mortgage rates are starting to move up. It is predicted that by the end of the year the rates will be close to 6%.

Freddie Mac’s weekly survey put the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) at 5.01% with a 0.7 origination point for the week ending February 4, up from last week’s average rate of 4.98%. It’s the first week-over-week increase in 2010. A year ago, the 30-year FRM was 5.25%. Bankrate.com’s weekly survey of large banks and thrifts put the 30-year FRM at 5.15%, up from 5.13% last week. Freddie put the 15-year FRM at 4.4%, up from last week’s average rate of 4.39%, but still down from last year’s rate of 4.92%. Bankrate.com put the 15-year FRM at 4.55%, up from 4.54% last week. Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist Frank Nothaft said despite the increase, rates remain relatively stable amid other positive developments, including recent increases in pending home sales and mortgage applications. “Even more encouraging news came from the Federal Reserve’s Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey, which reported that banks have generally stopped tightening standards on most types of loans in the fourth quarter of 2009, with commercial real estate as the exception,” Nothaft said. “However, banks have yet to unwind the tightening that occurred over the last two years. Moreover, substantially fewer banks expected credit quality to deteriorate over the coming year,” he added. Freddie said the five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 4.27%, up from last week’s rate of 4.25%. Last year, the five-year ARM averaged 5.26%. Bankrate.com’s average rate for five-year ARMs was 4.56%, up from 4.54% last week. Freddie’s survey of the one-year Treasury-indexed ARM put the average rate of 4.22%, down from last week’s rate of 4.29% and last year’s 4.92%.

Now is the time to buy a home! The mortgage rates are still at an all time low and the home prices are at there best. You still have time to take advantage of the $8000 and $6500 tax credit available to home buyers. If you are looking to buy a home in the Bonney Lake, Lake Tapps, Sumner, Puyallup, Buckley, Enumclaw or any of the surrounding Puget Sound areas, call me at 253-209-9701 and chances are I will be able to help you.

Do it now before this once in a lifetime perfect storm passes by!

NorthWest Real Estate

U.S. mortgage applications fell for the first time in four weeks, reflecting a dramatic drop in demand for home refinancing loans, data from an industry group showed today. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Market Composite Index for the week ending January 22, 2010 decreased 10.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier and, on an unadjusted basis, decreased 10.1 percent compared with the previous week and decreased 19.8 percent compared with the same week one year earlier. The Refinance Index decreased 15.1 percent from the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 3.3 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 2.8 percent compared with the previous week and was 4.5 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is up 2.6 percent. The four week moving average is up 1.3 percent for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this average is up 2.8 percent for the Refinance Index. The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 67.6 percent of total applications from 71.7 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 4.7 percent from 4.1 percent of total applications from the previous week. “Refinance activity fell substantially last week,” said Michael Fratantoni, MBA’s Vice President of Research and Economics. “Although rates remain low, there appears to be a smaller pool of borrowers who are willing and able to refinance at today’s rates.”

NorthWest Real Estate

Mortgage applications nudged higher last week, marking a third weekly rise, driven by a slight uptick in demand for home refinancing loans, an industry group reported on Wednesday.

NorthWest Real Estate