Freddie Mac: Mortgage rates tick higher; 30-year fixed averages 4.15%

A favorable jobs report pushed mortgage rates slightly higher in this week’s survey of lenders by Freddie Mac, with the average for a 30-year fixed loan rising to 4.15% from 4.12% last week.

Mortgage lenders were offering 15-year fixed loans at an average of 3.24%, up from 3.22% last week, according to Thursday’s report from Freddie Mac, the McLean, Va., home finance company that has been a ward of the federal government since the financial crisis.

The average starting rate for home loans that become adjustable after five years at a fixed rate edged up from 2.98% to 2.99%.

Freddie Mac asks lenders each Monday through Wednesday about the terms they are offering to low-risk borrowers.

Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist at Freddie Mac, said a better than expected report showing improvement in labor markets had put some upward pressure on mortgage rates.

By contrast, the overall trend in interest rates has been lower over the past week, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note falling from 2.65% on July 3 to 2.51% Thursday morning.

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