The Federal Reserve may have voted
to leave its short-term interest rates unchanged this week, but that didn’t stop lenders from moving up mortgage rates. Average mortgage rates are continuing an upward trend in 2018.
“The Federal Reserve did not hike rates this week, but the market views future hikes as a near certainty,” says Len Kiefer, deputy chief economist at Freddie Mac. “The expectation of future Fed rate hikes and increased borrowing by the U.S. Treasury is putting upward pressure on interest rates. The 30-year fixed rate mortgage is up over a quarter of a percentage point (27 basis points) from the first week of the year. 30-year fixed mortgage rates have increased for four consecutive weeks and are now slightly above where they were last year at this time.”
Freddie Mac reports the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending Feb. 1:
- 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 4.22 percent, with an average 0.5 point, rising from last week’s 4.15 percent average. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 4.19 percent.
- 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.68 percent, with an average 0.5 point, increasing from last week’s 3.62 percent average. A year ago, 15-year rates averaged 3.41 percent.
- 5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 3.53 percent, with an average 0.4 point, increasing from last week’s 3.52 percent average. A year ago, 5-year ARMs averaged 3.23 percent.
Source: Freddie Mac
