Mortgage rates rose in the latest week, with the average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages climbing to the highest level since last April, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly survey of mortgage rates.
“Long-term bond yields jumped on positive economic data reports, which placed upward pressure on mortgage rates this week,” said Freddie Chief Economist Frank Nothaft.
Rates slumped through most of last year as yields on Treasurys declined amid economic uncertainty. But yields have been on the rise recently, pushing mortgage rates back up. The rates generally track the yields, which move inversely to Treasury prices.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.05 percent for the week ended Thursday, up from the prior week’s 4.81 percent average and above the 4.97 percent a year earlier. They are now at the highest level since the last week of April 2010.
Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages were 4.29 percent, up from 4.08 percent in the previous week but down from 4.34 percent a year earlier.
Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 3.92 percent, up from the prior week’s 3.69 percent but down from 4.19 percent a year earlier. One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs were 3.35 percent, up from 3.26 percent but down from 4.33 percent, respectively.
To obtain the rates, the fixed-rate mortgages required payment of an average 0.7 point and the others required an average 0.6 point. A point is 1 percent of the mortgage amount, charged as prepaid interest.
