Rate on 30-year fixed mortgage jumps
The average interest rate offered on a 30-year fixed mortgage jumped this week to an eight-month high, tracking a recent rise in Treasury yields, Freddie Mac said Thursday.
But industry experts said loan rates retreated after Freddie Mac’s weekly survey was conducted Monday through Wednesday.
The survey showed lenders were offering a rate of 5.21% on average for a 30-year fixed mortgage, up from 5.08% the previous week. To get the 5.21% rate, borrowers had to pay upfront fees averaging 0.6% of the loan balance. Last year at this time, the average 30-year fixed rate was 4.87%.
Rates on 15-year fixed mortgages and adjustable loans rose as well, Freddie Mac said.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note, a benchmark for mortgage rates, climbed Monday to 3.99%, a 17-month high, before falling Tuesday and Wednesday.
Lenders responded by shaving an eighth of a percentage point from their mortgage rates late Wednesday, allowing some solid borrowers to get 30-year fixed rates at less than 5% if they agreed to pay 1% of the loan amount in upfront fees, said Edward Ferrara, whose Orange County-based website monitors the price lists that lenders provide to mortgage brokers.
The 10-year Treasury note edged up Thursday to 3.89%.
Mortgage rates are still remarkably low by historical standards, reflecting dormant inflation and government efforts to support the home-loan market.
