Mortgage Rates Rise, Marking First Weekly Gain of 2015, Freddie Mac Says

Fixed mortgage rates this week rose for the first time in 2015, with Freddie Mac’s widely watched survey pegging the 30-year conventional rate at 3.66 percent, up from 3.63 percent last week.

The average rate for a 15-year fixed home loan was 2.98 percent, up from 2.93 percent. Start rates for adjustable loans also rose, Freddie Mac said Thursday.

The average monthly rate for a 30-year conventional mortgage had been 4 percent or higher for 18 months before dropping below that threshold in December.

This boon for borrowers was triggered by powerful global demand for safe securities denominated in strong U.S. dollars. That has pushed down the yields, or effective interest rates, on Treasury and mortgage securities, and mortgage rates have followed.

Freddie Mac asks lenders each Monday through Wednesday about the terms they are offering on mortgages of up to $417,000 that can be backed by Freddie and Fannie Mae, its sibling mortgage-finance company. The two firms jointly guarantee about 60 percent of U.S. home loans.

The borrowers in Freddie Mac’s survey are assumed to have 20 percent down payments and to pay about half of 1 percent of the loan amount in upfront lender fees and discount points. Payments for such services as appraisals and title insurance are not included.

The survey provides a consistent gauge of mortgage trends, but actual rates adjust constantly and are influenced by many factors. In addition to borrowers’ credit histories and debt loads, the factors include whether the borrowers opt for zero-cost loans at higher rates or pay extra to lenders initially to lower the rates.

This article appeared in print in the January 30th, 2015 edition of Hamodia.