Mortgage Rates on the Upswing

Jan 25, 2018

Average fixed mortgage rates rising for the third consecutive week, according to new data from Freddie Mac.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.15 percent for week ending Jan. 25, up from last week when it averaged 4.04 percent; this is the product’s highest level since March 2017. The 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.62 percent, up from last week when it averaged 3.49 percent. And the five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.52 percent, up from last week when it averaged 3.46.

Len Kiefer, Freddie Mac’s Deputy Chief Economist, welcomed the data news.

“Rates keep climbing,” Kiefer said. “The 10-year Treasury yield reached its highest point since 2014 reflecting expectations of broad-based economic growth. Mortgage rates, in turn, followed the surge in Treasury yields.”

Separately, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reported the National Average Contract Mortgage Rate for the Purchase of Previously Occupied Homes by Combined Lenders Index was 4.08 percent for loans closed in late December, up three basis points from 4.05 percent in November.

The average interest rate on all mortgage loans was 4.05 percent, up two basis points from 4.03 in November. The average interest rate on conventional, 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages of $424,100 or less was 4.17 percent, unchanged from November. And the average loan amount for all loans was $321,100 in December, up $13,300 from $307,800 in November.

Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reported the National Average Contract Mortgage Rate for the Purchase of Previously Occupied Homes by Combined Lenders Index was 4.08 percent for loans closed in late December, up three basis points from 4.05 percent

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Phil Hall

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Jan 25, 2018

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