`DEAD ZONE' SUMMER'S MORTGAGE RATES STAY IN NARROW RANGE WITH FEW SIGNS OF LIFE.Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Staff Writer Mortgage rates, which didn't move much in Freddie Mac's weekly survey released Thursday, have behaved like a Stephen King <noinclude></noinclude>
Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of over 200 stories including over 50 bestselling horror and novel this summer. ``We're in the dead zone,'' mused Keith T. Gumbinger, vice president at HSH HSH abbr. Her (or His) Serene Highness Associates, the nation's biggest publisher of mortgage information. The numbers give credence to his observation: McLean, Va.-based Freddie Mac's survey for the week ending Thursday had the benchmark rate slipping to 5.99 percent from 6.08 percent in the prior compilation. And it was under the year-ago rate of 6.08 percent. A day earlier the Washington, D.C.-based Mortgage Bankers Mortgage Banker A company, individual or institution that originates, sells and services mortgage loans. Notes: Don't confuse a mortgage banker with a mortgage broker. Association survey had the 30- year year rate at 5.97 percent, unchanged from the prior week. So far this year rates have been the bobblehead of the economy. In Freddie Mac's survey they started the year averaging 5.87 percent, then retreated to a low of 5.38 percent the week ended March 18. From there they began moving up, hitting a high for the year of 6.34 the week of May 13. Rates then bounced around the 6.3 percent range before dipping below 5 percent in July and August. ``We're pretty much range bound,'' Gumbinger said. That means rates will probably range between the year's high and low points for a while. Essentially, rates are reacting to the overall economy, which has been a mixed bag, and skittish skit·tish adj. 1. Moving quickly and lightly; lively. 2. Restlessly active or nervous; restive. 3. Undependably variable; mercurial or fickle. 4. Shy; bashful. traders in the stock and bond markets, said Amy Crews Cutts, deputy chief economist The Chief Economist is a single position job class having primary responsibility for the development, coordination, and production of economic and financial analysis. It is distinguished from the other economist positions by the broader scope of responsibility encompassing the at Freddie Mac Freddie Mac: see Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. . ``They are really worried about missing the turn. They don't want to be the one who misses the peak or the trough Trough The stage of the economy's business cycle that marks the end of a period of declining business activity and the transition to expansion. so they try to jump ahead of every bit of news,'' she said. This creates volatility in the market place. Figuring out the economy hasn't been easy, either, although it's in a growth mode. The economy grew at an annual rate of 4.5 percent in the year's first quarter then slowed to 3 percent in the second. At the end of June the Federal Reserve Board boosted rates for the first time in four years and changed its language regarding the economy from patience to measured. ``Wall Street's reaction to that was to freak out freak out Substance abuse A verb, popularized in the US in the '60s–to experience nightmarish hallucinations including by LSD or a similar drug. See 'Bad trip.', Flashback. ,'' she said. That sent the stock market into decline for the past several weeks and interest rates have followed. There is also concern about inflation, which began increasing in the first quarter, but cooled in the second. And rising inflation tends to push up home loan rates. Now it appears the economy is changing direction. Again. ``The trend is positive but the news has been that the wind has changed direction and the bug is getting pushed sideways,'' Crews Cutts said. Gregory J. Wilcox, (818) 713-3743 greg.wilcox(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): chart Chart: 2004 WEEKLY MORTGAGE RATES |
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