Weekly Mortgage Roundup April 9

This week’s survey of nationwide mortgage rates indicates that rates went up slightly. The benchmark 30 year fixed rose from 4.78% to 4.87%. The 15 year rose from 4.52% to 4.54%. These rates do include .7 points and you can find the full list of rates here.

The weeks rise in rates ends a 4 week trend of lowered rates. Historically speaking, the 30 year fixed rate is still close to the all time low. With programs such as the $8,000 First Time Homebuyer Credit in place, combined with low rates and a high availability of homes on the market; there’s hope that the purchase activity will increase. Right now, the vast majority of mortgage activity revolves around refinancing existing loans, not new purchase loans.

Lenders have been slow to adopt President Obama’s Making Home Affordable plan and the difficulty of getting lenders to subordinate HELOCs has not helped the situation. For those who have been waiting on rates to drop to the 4.5% range, its best to lock in your rate now, as recent good news from Wells Fargo has caused a surge on Wall Street. The Fed is unlikely to raise the prime rate until banks are on solid ground, but we may have seen the bottom of the mortgage rates as lending institutions stabilize and possibly even start hiring some staff to keep up with the recent mortgage demand.