Atlanta Mortgage Rate Trends for the week 10/23/2006

For the second week in a row, American homeowners were faced with mixed blessings of good and bad news.  On the one hand, for the third time in a row the Federal Reserve elected not to adjust short-term rates preferring to keep them steady.  On the other hand, mortgage rates on home loans are not set directly indexed or influenced by the Fed, but are rather set by the market.  According to Bankrate.com’s national survey of large lenders, this week has been another mixed blessing for American homeowners, with Atlanta mortgage rates showing slight rises for the second week in a row.  Nonetheless, the news could have been much worse had the Fed elected to raise their rates.

Across the board slight rises in Atlanta mortgage rates saw 30-year fixed rate mortgage rates rise 2 basis points from last week’s 5.92% to this week’s 5.94%.  15-year fixed rate mortgage rates saw a slightly higher 3 basis point jump from last week’s 5.62% to this week’s 5.65%, and 5-year adjustable mortgage rates saw a similar 3 basis point jump from last week’s 5.64% to this week’s 5.67%.  Overall, however, Bankrate.com’s national survey of mortgage lenders saw Atlanta mortgage rates holding steady and most economist and financial experts are not predicting any sort of panic on the horizon.