Inman News

22 August 2013

In advance of the release of minutes from a July Federal Reserve meeting that was expected to offer clues on the central bank’s timeline for its bond-buying program, rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.58 percent with an average point of 0.8 percent for the week ending Aug. 22, up from 4.4 percent last week and 3.66 percent a year ago, according to Freddie Mac’s latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

Meanwhile, rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages edged up; rates on five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) loans slipped marginally; and rates on one-year Treasury-indexed ARMs held steady.

Minutes from the latest meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee released yesterday appeared to show general support for Ben Bernanke’s plan to scale back its bond-buying program this fall.