Mortgage rates show little change again this week

For nearly two months, nothing has caused fixed mortgage rates to budge. This week's stock market swoon was no exception.

According to the latest data released Thursday by Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate average crept higher to 2.88% with an average 0.7 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 2.86% a week ago and 2.9% a year ago. Since the 30-year fixed average jumped from 2.77% to 2.87% in early August, it has essentially held steady the past seven 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 rose to 2.15% with an average 0.6 point. It was 2.12% a week ago and 2.4% a year ago. The five-year adjustable rate average fell to 2.43% with an average 0.3 point. It was 2.51% a week ago and 2.9% a year ago.

"The Freddie Mac fixed rate for a 30-year loan moved sideways this week as investors anxiously awaited clarity from the Federal Reserve amid a broad market sell-off early in the week," said George Ratiu, a Realtor.com economist. "The 10-year Treasury has been bouncing up and down in a narrow band for the last few weeks, which kept rates steady."

At its meeting this week, the Federal Reserve did not raise its benchmark rate, but it did signal that a rate increase could come sooner than previously indicated and that the Fed is ready to begin reducing or tapering its bond-buying program.

"If progress continues broadly as expected, the...