Long-term mortgage rates in the US continued to gradually increase, with the average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages surging for the fourth straight week.
Freddie Mac noted that a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.91 percent in the week ending 14 April, an increase from 4.87 percent in the previous week. A 15-year loan climbed to an average of 4.13 percent, while a one-year adjustable-rate mortgage surged to an average of 3.25 percent.
“Although rates on 30-year fixed mortgages have risen for four weeks in a row, they have remained below five percent for eight straight weeks now, helping to maintain affordability in the housing market,” said Frank Nothaft, Chief Economist at Freddie Mac.
For 2011, Freddie Mac estimated housing sales would increase at least five percent above 2010 levels.
As previously reported, the number of Charlotte-area home sales in March totalled 1,903, an increase of three closings from March 2010.
According to the Charlotte Regional Realtor Association, sales in March increased sharply from February, after selling out 1,329 homes.
The average home price in March was US$194,465, a decrease of 1.6 percent from March 2010 and an increase of eight percent from US$180,036 in February 2011.
Freddie Mac reported 2,202 pending contracts in March 2011, a decrease of 11.8 percent from the previous year but an increase of 31.7 percent from February 2011.