Fixed mortgage rates flat despite inflationary fears

Fixed-mortgage rates remained resilient this past week, staying stable after hitting six-month lows. Interest on the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage inched up to 4.5%, staving off fears it would plunge in the midst of inflation reports, Freddie Mac said in its Primary Mortgage Market Survey. Overall, the 30-year FRM remained virtually unchanged, growing slightly from 4.49% last week to 4.5% for the week ending June 16. Meanwhile, the 15-year FRM remained virtually unchanged at 3.67%, compared to 3.68% last week and 4.2% a year earlier. Meanwhile, the 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage and the 1-year Treasury indexed ARM averaged 3.27% and 2.97%, respectively. “Mortgage rates were little changed this week as financial market participants shrugged off the recent inflation reports,” said Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist of Freddie Mac. “The core producer price index rose just 0.2% in May while the core consumer price index increased 0.3%, both near the market consensus forecast.” Write to Kerri Panchuk.