Mortgage Rates Mostly Higher This Week as President Obama Asks Congress to Help Homeowners Refinance

For over a month now, mortgage rates have been moving higher and this week is no exception as 30 year mortgage rates today increased to 3.67 percent. Mortgage rates have increased for many weeks now but rates are still low historically speaking and will remain so for the rest of 2013.

Hopefully President Obama and Congress can act on laws that would allow millions of homeowners refinance at these current low refinance rates before rates move higher. There are a few bills pending including the “Responsible Homeowners Refinancing Act,” which would change refinancing guidelines to help the estimated 13.5 million homeowners trapped in higher rate loans refinance to a lower rate.

Refinancing to a lower rate can save a homeowner tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest payments over the life of the loan. For each $100,000 borrowed a borrower would save $59 a month if they refinancing to a 30 year mortgage from 5.00 percent to 4.00 percent.

Current mortgage rates on 15 year conforming loans are averaging 2.93 percent, an increase from last week's average rate of 2.89 percent. Although rates have moved higher on average this week, there are lenders on our rate lists offering 15 year mortgage rates at 2.25 percent with points.

Average jumbo mortgage rates on 30 year conforming loans bucked the trend and were slightly lower this week. Today's mortgage rates on 30 year jumbo loans are averaging 4.12 percent, a decline from last week's average 30 year jumbo rate of 4.14 percent. The lowest 30 year jumbo rates in our database right now are at 3.375 percent to 3.50 percent with points.

15 year jumbo mortgage rates today are averaging 3.43 percent, an increase from last week's average rate of 3.39 percent. The lowest 15 year jumbo refinance rates in our rate database are well below the average at 2.875 percent with points. Search and compare rates in your state - there is no need to provide personal information to view a list of rates.