Mortgage rates climb again
WASHINGTON — Mortgage rates rose again this week with 30-year mortgages hitting their highest level in four months and one-year adjustable rate mortgages rising to the highest level in more than three years.
In its weekly survey, mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages rose to a nationwide average of 5.89 percent, up from 5.82 percent last week.
It marked the sixth week in a row that rates on 30-year mortgages have risen, pushing them to the highest level since they averaged 5.91 percent for the week ending April 14.
For one-year adjustable rate mortgages, rates rose to 4.57 percent, up from 4.47 percent last week. That was the highest level for one-year ARMS in more than three years, since they averaged 4.66 percent in mid-July 2002.
Analysts attributed the latest increase to a strong jobs report last Friday which showed the economy created 207,000 jobs in July, the biggest increase in three months.
“The stronger-than-expected employment report coupled with upward revisions in job growth for the previous two months renewed the market’s fear of inflation,” said Frank Nothaft, chief economist for Freddie Mac.
While strong job growth can put pressure on wages, Federal Reserve officials say they have seen no indications as of yet that wage pressures are starting to intensify.
The Fed this week pushed a key short-term interest rate up for the 10th time in the past 14 months as it continued its campaign to gradually raise interest rates to ensure that inflation remains well-behaved.
Rates on 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages, a popular choice for refinancing a home mortgage, averaged 5.47 percent this week, compared with 5.38 percent last week. This week’s rate was the highest since the first week in April.
Rates on five-year hybrid adjustable rate mortgages averaged 5.40 percent this week, up from 5.30 percent last week.
The nationwide averages for mortgage rates do not include add-on fees known as points. Fifteen-year and five-year mortgages each carried an average fee of 0.6 point this week. Thirty-year mortgages carried an average fee of 0.5 point while one-year ARMS had a fee of 0.7 point.