After declining slightly for three consecutive weeks, fixed mortgage rates started to rise again during the week ending Nov. 7, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
The average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) was 4.16% – a 0.8 point increase compared to the week prior, when it averaged 4.1%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.4%.
The government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) cited positive economic data coming out of the manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors as the main factor driving the increase in fixed rates.
The average rate for a 15-year FRM was 3.27% – a 0.7-point increase from the previous week, when it averaged 3.2%. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 2.69%.
The average rate for a five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) was 2.96%, essentially unchanged from the previous week. A year ago, the five-year ARM averaged 2.73%.
The average rate for a one-year Treasury-indexed ARM was 2.61%, down about 0.5 points from the previous week, when it averaged 2.64%. At this time last year, the one-year ARM averaged 2.59%.
‘Fixed mortgage rates rebounded slightly this week on more positive economic data releases,’ says Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist for Freddie Mac, in a statement. ‘Production in the manufacturing industry expanded for the fifth month in a row in October to the strongest pace since April 2011. Similarly, the non-manufacturing sector grew for the second consecutive month in October and beat the market consensus forecast of a decline. These increases were widespread across the nation, from Chicago, to Milwaukee, to New York.’