Mortgage rates hold steady in week

WASHINGTON, March 10 (UPI) -- Average interest rates for 30-year and 15-year mortgages held steady in the week ending March 10, the U.S. Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said Thursday.

Average rates for 15-year fixed rate loans were unchanged, while rates for 30-year mortgages rose only slightly, Freddie Mac said.

The average interest rate for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages rose from 4.87 percent to 4.88 percent with 0.7 points. Average interest rates for 15-year contracts were unchanged at 4.15 percent with 0.7 points, Freddie Mac said.

Rates for 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages a year ago stood at 4.32 percent. Rates for 30-year mortgages a year ago averaged 4.95 percent.

Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's vice president and chief economist, said mortgage rates "held steady amid a strong employment report."

Low rates for 30-year loans, under 5 percent in all but one week this year, are "contributing to a record home affordability" as calculated by the National Association of Realtors, he said.