Interest Rate Update

Some info from Bankrate on interest rates at the time of this writing. Always good know where we stand before we spend.

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 16, 2007.

Mortgages
Rate: 6.32 percent (30-year fixed) Average points: 0.26
Mortgage rates rose a small amount but remain locked in a tight range. There simply hasn't been economic news that has been consequential enough to move mortgage rates either way. In the past six weeks, the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage has varied from a low of 6.27 percent to a high of 6.32 percent. This week the average 30-year fixed rate rose 3 basis points, to 6.32 percent. A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point. The average 15-year fixed, which is a popular option for refinancing, rose 5 basis points, to 6.05 percent. On bigger loans, the average jumbo 30-year fixed rose 2 basis points, to 6.56 percent. Adjustable-rate mortgages were mixed. The popular 5/1 ARM rose 8 basis points, to 6.24 percent, as the one-year ARM remained unchanged at 6.05 percent.

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 stayed at 8.16 percent and the average fixed-rate home equity loan remained 7.94 percent.

Auto loans
Rates: 7.7 percent (60-month, new car); 8.46 percent (36-month, used car)
Absolutely no change to report in auto loan rates this week. The 60-month new car loan rate is 7.7 percent for the third week in a row. The 48-month new car loan rate is 7.65 percent and the 36-month loan rate is 7.57 percent.

Used car loan rates are also rock-steady. The 48-month used car loan rate is 8.42 percent and the 36-month loan rate for a used car is 8.46 percent.

The nine-year merger between Daimler and Chrysler will end in the third quarter of this year with Daimler unloading the American carmaker onto Cerebus Capital Management. The private equity firm will take over controlling interest in the Chrysler group for $7.4 billion. In a story on MarketWatch.com, Christoph Rauwald noted that this deal will mark the first time a private equity firm takes over one of the world's biggest automakers.

Certificates of deposit
Yields: 3.77 percent (1-year CD yield); 3.95 percent (5-year CD yield)
The average one-year CD yield remains at 3.77 percent this week. It has stayed within a narrow range of 3.76 percent to 3.81 percent so far this year. It's a pattern we may see for quite some time to come. The average five-year yield shed 1 basis point and dropped to 3.95 percent. That's the lowest it's been this year; the high was 4.07 percent. We've had some pretty upbeat news on the economic front the past couple days and, of course, that makes the Fed focus on inflation. But we probably shouldn't expect a rate hike when the Fed meets in six weeks, and if there's some downbeat economic news we probably shouldn't expect a rate cut. Fact is, the whole scenario seems a bit range-bound and the Fed may continue sitting on the fence.

Credit cards
Rates: 13.44 (standard fixed); 14.56 percent (standard variable)
Rates sit tight for yet another week. The standard fixed rate remains 13.44 percent, and the variable is still 14.56 percent. For all cards -- standard, gold and platinum -- the fixed rate stays put at 11.82 percent, and the variable rate is 13.89 percent.

Legislation recently introduced to the U.S. Senate is pushing several consumer-friendly credit card lending reforms. According to the Consumer Federation of America, the proposed "Stop Unfair Practices in Credit Cards Act," a bill highly praised by numerous consumer groups, would banish certain lending abuses, such as charging customers a fee for paying their bills and imposing an over-limit fee repeatedly. Read more about the bill on the CFA's Web site (PDF). 

[Via Bankrate.com]