Average fixed mortgage rates increased last week, as revealed by Freddie Mac's recently released Primary Mortgage Market Survey®. According to experts, the surge may partly be in response to recent job growth and economic improvement.
The survey showed that 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.20 percent with an average 0.6 point for the week ending June 12, 2014. The previous week, the numbers were at 4.14 percent, and one year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged a scant 3.98 percent.
The 15-year FRM is also up, with the most recent numbers averaging 3.31 percent with an average 0.5 point, up from the previous week's 3.23 percent, and the previous year's 3.10 percent.
"Mortgage rates continued to climb for the second week in a row following the increase in 10-year Treasury yields,” says Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist, Freddie Mac. “Also, the economy added 217,000 jobs in May, following a 282,000 surge in April and a 203,000 increase in March. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate in May held steady at 6.3 percent."
The survey showed that the 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.05 percent with an average 0.4 point, up from the week prior when it averaged 2.93 percent, and a year ago, at 2.79 percent.
The only decreased result was the 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM, which averaged 2.40 percent with an average 0.4 point, unchanged from last week and decreased from this time last year, when it averaged 2.58 percent.
For more information, visit www.freddiemac.com.