Freddie Mac Weekly Update: Mortgage Rates Continue to Climb
30-year fixed-rate mortgage: Averaged 4.83 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending December 16, 2010, up from last week when it averaged 4.61 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.94 percent.
The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage: Averaged 4.17 percent with an average 0.7 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.96 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.38 percent.
Five-year indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages ARMs: Averaged 3.77 percent this week, with an average 0.7 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.60 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 4.37 percent.
One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs: Averaged 3.35 percent this week with an average 0.7 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.27 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 4.34 percent.
Freddie Sayz
Attributed to Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist, Freddie Mac.
Market concerns over stronger economic growth that, in the near term, could lead to an increase in inflation have sparked a rise in bond yields and mortgage rates have followed. For instance, the growth in retail sales excluding automobiles in November was twice that of the market consensus forecast. Industrial production showed the biggest gain in November since July, according to the Federal Reserve Board . And consumer sentiment, as measured by the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index, rose to a six month high in December. As a result, interest rates for 30 year fixed mortgages this week were the highest since the week of May 20th of this year.
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