Mortgage Rates Keep Going Up

Average fixed mortgage rates are up for the seventh week in a row, according to the latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) from Freddie Mac.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.16 percent for the week ending Dec. 15, up from last week when it averaged 4.13 percent. The 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.37 percent, up from last week when it averaged 3.36 percent. And the five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.19 percent this week, up from last week when it averaged 3.17 percent.

Sean Becketti, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, stressed that this news should not be seen as a follow-up to yesterday’s Federal Reserve rate hike. "This week's mortgage rate survey was completed prior to the [Fed] announcement,” he said, adding that the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Applications Survey “posted drops in both refinance and purchase applications, registering the impact of recent mortgage rate increases. If rates continue their upward trend, expect mortgage activity to be significantly subdued in 2017.”