Mortgage rates continued their upward climb this week, with the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rising 11 basis points to 4.58%, up from 4.47% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
“Mortgage rates are now at their highest level since the week of Aug. 22, 2013,” says Sam Khater, chief economist for Freddie Mac, in a statement. “Higher Treasury yields, driven by rising commodity prices, more Treasury issuances and the steady stream of solid economic news, are behind the uptick in rates over the past week.”
Khater says despite rising rates, “demand for home purchase credit remains solid.”
“The Mortgage Bankers Association reported in their latest mortgage applications survey that activity was up 11 percent from a year ago,” he says.
A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.03%.
The average rate for a 15-year FRM was 4.02%, up from 3.94% the previous week. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.27%.
The average rate for a five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) was 3.74%, up from 3.67%. A year ago at this time, the five-year ARM averaged 3.12%.
