Mortgage rates continued to rise this week, with the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) at 4.60%, up from 4.54% last week, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.78%.
It was the third consecutive week that mortgage rates increased overall.
“Mortgage rates are currently 0.82 percent higher than a year ago, which is the biggest year-over-year increase since May 2014,” says Sam Khater, chief economist for Freddie Mac, in a release. “Looking ahead, annualized comparisons for mortgage applications may look weaker than they appear, but that’s primarily because of the large spread between mortgage rates now and last September, which was when they reached their low for the year.”
Khater says the recent strength in the labor market – including low unemployment and rising wages – should help keep homebuyer interest elevated.
“However, mortgage rates will likely also move up, as the Federal Reserve considers short-term rate hikes this month and at future meetings,” he adds.
For the week ended Sept. 13, the average rate for a 15-year FRM was 4.06%, up from 3.99% the previous week. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.08%.
The average rate for a five -year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) was 3.93%, unchanged from the previous week. A year ago at this time, the five-year ARM averaged 3.13%.
