Freddie Mac reported stabilized mortgages rates at the start of April. The 30-year fixed loan rates emerged at 4.41 percent — a slight rise from 4.4 percent from the previous week. This is in contrast to 15-year fixed loan rates, which climbed from 3.42 percent to 3.47 percent. These changes reflect the current climate of loan offerings for dependable borrowers, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market survey.

The survey uses a sampling error of 5 basis points, or 0.05 of a percentage points. This tells us that the new results are, for the most part, negligible.

Variable interest rate loans – a loan whose interest rate rises or falls over time based on market rates – also had slightly higher starting rates.

Recent 30-year fixed loan rates, hovering in the 4.25 percent to 4.5 percent range, should be considered values compared to past rate ranges. The early 1970s saw 30-year fixed rates in the 7 to 9 percent range. The late 1970s and into the 1980s saw interest rates soar above 10 percent. For the most part, rates have declined since the early 1980s.

Sources:
http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-freddie-mac-mortgage-rates-20140403,0,817446.story