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Mortgage Rates Monday, March 13: Up Slightly; Borrowers Gain Equity – Metro US

Mortgage Rates Monday, March 13: Up Slightly; Borrowers Gain Equity

Thirty-year fixed and 5/1 ARMrates rose slightlywhile 15-year fixed mortgage rates today held steady, according to a NerdWalletsurvey of mortgage interest rates published by national lenders on Monday morning.

MORTGAGE RATES TODAY, monday, MARCH 13:

(Change from 3/10)
30-year fixed: 4.54% APR (+0.02)
15-year fixed: 3.92% APR (NC)
5/1 ARM: 3.95% APR (+0.01)

Get personalized mortgage ratesCoreLogic: 1million borrowers now havepositive equity

One million homeowners with a mortgage entered positive-equity territory in 2016, according to a new report from CoreLogic. As a result, fewer mortgage borrowers were underwater on their loans in 2016 as buyerdemand helped drive home-price growth in many markets across the country.

Currently, 48 million homes (93.8%) have positive equity, a substantial shiftfrom the end of 2009 when negative equity crested at 26%, according to CoreLogic’s latest Equity Report. “Negative equity,” also known asbeing “upside down” or “underwater” in a mortgage, means a borrower owes more on his or herhome loan than the property isworth.

In 2016, U.S. homeowners’ home equity increased11.7% to $783 billion in 2016, CoreLogic found. During the last quarter of the year, negative-equity households dropped by 25% year over year to 3.17 million from 4.23 million.

» MORE: How much home can you afford?

“Average home equity rose by $13,700 for U.S. homeowners during 2016,” said Dr. Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic, in a press release. “The equity build-up has been supported by home-price growth and pay down of principal.” He added that home prices increased6.3% over the year ending December 2016, and that a quarter of all mortgage loans have terms of 20 years or less, which allows homeowners to pay their home-loan debt and gain equity much more quickly than on 30-year loans.

Homeowners looking to lower their mortgage rate can shop for refinance lenders here.

NerdWallet daily mortgage rates are an average of the published annual percentage ratewith the lowest points for each loan term offeredby a sampling of major national lenders. APR quotes reflect an interest rate plus points, fees and other expenses, providingthe most accurate view of the costsa borrower might pay.

Deborah Kearns is a staff writer at NerdWallet, a personal finance website. Email: dkearns@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @debbie_kearns.

The article Mortgage Rates Monday, March 13: Up Slightly; Borrowers Gain Equity originally appeared on NerdWallet.