Mortgage rates continue to languish as summer winds down

For the past month, mortgage rates have been treading water, unperturbed by the pandemic, economic data or world events.

According to the latest data released Thursday by Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate average was unchanged at 2.87% with an average 0.6 point. (Points are fees paid to a lender equal to 1% of the loan amount. They are in addition to the interest rate.) It was 2.93% a year ago. Since the 30-year fixed average jumped from 2.77% to 2.87% in early August, it hasn't budged. It has essentially held steady for the past four weeks.

Freddie Mac, the federally chartered mortgage investor, aggregates rates from around 80 lenders across the country to come up with weekly national averages. The survey is based on home purchase mortgages. Rates for refinances may be different. It uses rates for high-quality borrowers with strong credit scores and large down payments. Because of the criteria, these rates are not available to every borrower.

The 15-year fixed-rate average ticked up to 2.18% with an average 0.6 point. It was 2.17% a week ago and 2.42% a year ago. The five-year adjustable rate average edged up to 2.43% with an average 0.3 point. It was 2.42% a week ago and 2.93% a year ago.

"Mortgage rates reflected investor uncertainty over dueling economic indicators," said George Ratiu, manager of economic research at Realtor.com. "The 10-year Treasury dropped early in the week as a result of consumer confidence hitting a six-month low, disappointing private payroll gains and cooling pending home sales. However, the Institute of Supply Management's figures showed that manufacturing continued to advance in July. In addition, with rising inflation pressures leading regional Federal Reserve voices, like Dallas's Robert Kaplan, to push for a September asset tapering announcement, the central bank's continued stance...