After the Fed's decision on Wednesday to up its benchmark rate by 0.25%, some banks have already followed suit by increasing their prime rates. Prime rates are what banks charge their most creditworthy customers.
Prime is a benchmark that, along with the London Interbank Offer Rate (LIBOR), is often used to price adjustable-rate mortgages. As prime and LIBOR rates increase, ARMs will continue to be impacted. Not surprisingly, LIBOR rates also inched up this week. The result was that ARM rates increased compared to yesterday, though fixed rates all eased.
For those shopping for homes, here are today's average mortgage rates across the U.S., along with where they stood last month.
|
Mortgage Rates (National Average) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Term |
Today |
1 month ago |
|
30-year fixed jumbo |
4.68% |
4.31% |
|
30-year fixed |
4.14% |
4.05% |
|
15-year fixed |
3.29% |
3.20% |
|
30-year fixed refi |
4.14% |
4.08% |
|
15-year fixed refi |
3.31% |
3.22% |
|
5/1-ARM |
3.30% |
3.19% |
|
5/1-ARM refi |
3.41% |
3.34% |
Data source: Bloomberg. Rates may include points.
For comparison's sake here are a few of the national average mortgage rates from five years ago.
|
Mortgage Rates (National Average) | |
|---|---|
| Term |
March, 2012 |
|
30-year fixed |
3.95% |
|
15-year fixed |
3.20% |
|
1-year ARM |
2.77% |
Data source: Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac).
For existing homeowners who are shopping for a home equity line of credit (HELOC) or equity loan, today offers another bit of good news: Both HELOC rates and equity loans showed little change at 5.14% and 5.20%, respectively, remaining below last month's respective rates of 5.28% and 5.26%.
