By: Brittany Dunn<\/p>\n
Still lingering near record lows, mortgage rates for the week ending June 17, 2010 were fairly level with last week\u2019s averages, Freddie Mac<\/a> and Bankrate<\/a> reported Thursday.<\/p>\n According to Freddie Mac\u2019s Primary Mortgage Market Survey<\/a> fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.75 percent with an average 0.7 point this week, up slightly from last week\u2019s average of 4.72 percent. In addition, Freddie Mac said 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.2 percent with an average 0.7 point this week, a minor uptick from 4.17 percent the week prior.<\/p>\n \u201cMortgage rates were little changed this week amid preliminary signs that the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit in April may have led to a slowdown in new construction,\u201d said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac VP and chief economist.<\/p>\n In its June 2010 Economic Outlook, Freddie Mac said mortgage rates are expected to move up more gradually than in last month\u2019s outlook, largely remaining in a 4.75<\/p>\n percent to 5.25 percent range for the second half of 2010 \u2013 very much like the first half of this year. These sustained low mortgage rates will help maintain homebuyer affordability and prolong the current refinancing wave, Freddie Mac explained.<\/p>\n In a separate report, Bankrate reported the same trend of relatively flat mortgage rates this week. The tracking company said these record low rates are the byproduct of ongoing uncertainty about the economy and nervousness among investors.<\/p>\n \u201cA \u2018flight to quality\u2019 among global investors has driven Treasury yields significantly lower, and mortgage rates are closely tied to yields on long-term government debt,\u201d Bankrate said. \u201cAs long as there is lingering doubt about the sustainability of the U.S. economic recovery, mortgage rates will remain at near present levels.\u201d<\/p>\n