Mortgage rates surged to their highest averages since 2011 following the Federal Reserve’s announcement Wednesday that it is raising its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage jumped to 4.72 percent, up from 4.65 percent last week.
“The robust economy, rising Treasury yields, and the anticipation of more short-term rate hikes caused mortgage rates to move up,” says Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater. “Even with these higher borrowing costs, it’s encouraging to see that prospective buyers appear to be having a little more success. With inventory constraints and home prices starting to ease, purchase applications have now trended higher on an annual basis for six straight weeks.”
Khater also notes that consumer confidence is at an 18-year high, and job gains continue to hold steady. “These two factors should keep demand up in the coming months, but at the same time, home shoppers will likely deal with even higher mortgage rates,” Khater says. Freddie Mac reports the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending Sept. 27:
30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 4.72 percent, with an average 0.5 point, rising from last week’s 4.65 percent average. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 3.83 percent.
15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 4.16 percent, with an average 0.5 point, rising from last week’s 4.11 percent average. A year ago, 15-year rates averaged 3.13 percent.
5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 3.97 percent, with an average 0.3 point, rising from last week’s 3.92 percent average. A year ago, 5-year ARMs averaged 3.20 percent.
