Weekly Interest Rate Roundup from Bankrate.com

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Interest Rate Roundup

By Bankrate.com

Here's a look at the status of interest rates on five common consumer banking products and the latest rates from Bankrate.com's weekly national survey of large banks and thrifts conducted May 9, 2007.

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Mortgages
Rate: 6.29 percent (30-year fixed) Average points: 0.24
Mortgage rates barely changed at all and have been locked in a range of 6.27 percent to 6.29 percent in the past four weeks. The average 30-year fixed rate rose 1 basis point, to 6.29 percent. A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point. The average 15-year fixed, which is a popular option for refinancing, was unchanged at 6 percent. On bigger loans, the average jumbo 30-year fixed was unchanged at 6.54 percent. Adjustable-rate mortgages rose by small amounts. The popular 5/1 ARM rose 3 basis points, to 6.16 percent, while the one-year ARM rose 3 basis points, to 6.05 percent. There simply wasn't enough economic news of consequence to sway rates either way. This rate survey was conducted the same day the Federal Reserve announced it was keeping short-term rates unchanged, but the information had been gathered before the Fed's announcement in the afternoon.

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Home equity products
Rates: 8.16 percent (line of credit); 7.94 percent (loan)
Home equity products were unchanged. The average home equity line of credit remained 8.16 percent, while the average fixed-rate home equity loans stayed at 7.94 percent.

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Auto loans
Rates: 7.7 percent (60-month, new car); 8.46 percent (36-month, used car)
Some glacial shifts in auto loan rates this week. Almost imperceptible really, as the 60-month new car loan clung tightly to 7.7 percent, and the 48-month loan rate followed suit by staying at 7.65 percent. The 36-month loan rate went its own way and dropped 1 basis point to 7.57 percent.

The 48-month used car loan rate bumped up to 8.42 percent and the 36-month stayed at 8.46 percent.

Congress is hard at work on reducing U.S. dependency on foreign oil. A Senate committee approved a bill that would require auto manufacturers to increase the fuel efficiency of passenger cars and light trucks to 35 mpg by 2020, Reuters reported on Tuesday. A committee in the House of Representatives has its own bill, which could emphasize alternative fuels.

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Certificates of deposit
Yields: 3.77 percent (1-year CD yield); 3.96 percent (5-year CD yield)
The Fed didn't make a move and neither did CD yields. We will likely continue this pattern of stagnating or slightly eroding CD yields at least until the next Fed meeting in late June. At least yields are languishing at the high end of the curve.
Again, yields didn't budge this week but here's a look at where they stand, according to Bankrate.com surveys. Regular one-year and five-year CDs are yielding 3.77 percent and 3.96 percent, respectively. Jumbo one-year and five-year CDs are yielding 4.21 percent and 4.19 percent, respectively.

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Credit cards
Rates: 13.44 (standard fixed); 14.56 percent (standard variable)
No news is good news for credit card debtors. The federal funds rate remains unchanged after the Fed's meeting today. The standard fixed rate is still at 13.44 percent, and the variable is the same 14.56 percent. For all cards -- standard, gold and platinum -- the fixed rate remains 11.82 percent, and the variable rate is 13.89 percent.

Citibank and Chase customers will enjoy some recent changes announced by their card issuers. According to a recent article on CardRatings.com, Citibank is purging all of its accounts of the universal default clause. The company will also abandon its "any time for any reason" right to increase fees and rates arbitrarily -- typical language found in the contracts of most credit card contracts.

Chase will drop the double-cycle billing method as a way of calculating interest, which can mean savings for those who sometimes carry a balance. The company also promises to cap over-the-limit fees.

Bankrate.com's corrections policy

-- Posted: May 9, 2007