Mortgage rates continued their upward climb this past week, with the average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage rising to 4.38%, up from 4.32% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
That’s the highest average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage since April 2014.
A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.15%.
During the week ended Feb. 15, the average rate for a 15-year FRM was 3.84%, up from 3.77%. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.35%.
The average rate for a five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) was 3.63%, up from 3.57%. A year ago at this time, the five-year ARM averaged 3.18%.
“Wednesday’s Consumer Price Index report showed higher-than-expected inflation; headline consumer price inflation was 2.1 percent year-over-year in January two tenths of a percentage point higher than the consensus forecast,” says Len Kiefer, Deputy Chief Economist for Freddie Mac, in a statement. “Inflation measures were broad-based, cementing expectations that the Federal Reserve will go forward with monetary tightening later this year. Following this news, the 10-year Treasury reached its highest level since January 2014, climbing above 2.90 percent.
“Mortgage rates have also surged,” he adds. “After jumping 10 basis points last week, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose six basis points to 4.38 percent, its highest level since April 2014.”