Mortgage Rate Trend for the week of 9/1/2006

Atlanta Mortgage Rates this week continued the trend of the last few months with all benchmark fixed-rate and adjustable-rate mortgage interest rates falling again.  The net effect of which has placed both short-term and long-term mortgages rates solidly below the 6.0% line.

According to Bankrate.com’s, the benchmark 5-year adjustable-rate mortgage rate showed the most significant week-on-week change with a 6 basis point drop to 5.69%, providing borrowers with food for thought on the question of whether to stick with their adjustable-rate mortgage adopting a wait and see approach to whether there will be further falls in the ARM post Labor Day weekend; but with fixed-rate mortgage holding steady at under 6.0% for yet another week, the temptation to jump ship and refinance with a long-term 15 or 30 year fixed rate mortgage must now be very powerful.

Bankrate.com’s national survey of large lenders also shows benchmark 15-year fixed-rate mortgages fell 4 basis points to 5.66% and 30-year fixed-rate benchmark rates fell a further 3 basis points week-on-week to end up at 5.95%.

While continued southward movement beyond the psychologically all important 6.0% barrier continues to be very welcome good news for home-buyers faced with increased costs everywhere else at moment, many a home loan borrower with an adjustable-rate mortgage will have cause for some serious thought about their long-term finances this holiday weekend with rumblings among many prominent economists that the Fed is faced with the very real prospect of having to put interest rates up shortly if Bernanke’s unofficial target rate of 2% inflation is going to be sustainable.