Mortgage rates ticked up for a second week in a row during the week ended Feb. 12, driven mainly by a strong job report from the U.S. Department of Labor, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) was 3.69%, up from 3.59% the previous week. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.28%.
The average rate for a 15-year FRM was 2.99%, up from 2.92% the week prior. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.33%.
The average rate for a five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) was 2.97%, up from 2.82% the previous week. A year ago, the five-year ARM averaged 3.05%.
The average rate for a one-year Treasury-indexed ARM was 2.42%, up from 2.39%. At this time last year, the one-year ARM averaged 2.55%.
‘Mortgage rates rose this week following strong economic data,’ says Len Kiefer, deputy chief economist for Freddie Mac, in a statement. ‘The economy added 257,000 new jobs in January after robust increases of 329,000 in December and 423,000 in November. The unemployment rate edged up to 5.7 percent last month from 5.6 percent in December. Average hourly earnings rose 0.5 percent, following a 0.2 percent decline in December.’