Mortgage rates continue their ascent

Mortgage rates showed no let up in their upward march this week.

According to data released Thursday by Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate average jumped more than a quarter percentage point in one week, surging to 4.42 percent with an average 0.8 point. (A point is a fee paid to a lender equal to 1 percent of the loan amount. It is in addition to the interest rate.) It was 4.16 percent a week ago and 3.17 percent a year ago. The 30-year fixed average has risen 1.2 percentage points since the start of the year.

Freddie Mac, the federally chartered mortgage investor, aggregates rates from around 80 lenders across the country to come up with weekly national averages. The survey is based on home purchase mortgages. Rates for refinances may be different. It uses rates for high-quality borrowers with strong credit scores and large down payments. Because of the criteria, these rates are not available to every borrower.

The 15-year fixed-rate average climbed to 3.63 percent with an average 0.8 point. It was 3.39 percent a week ago and 2.45 percent a year ago. The five-year adjustable rate average grew to 3.36 percent with an average 0.3 point. It was 3.19 percent a week ago and 2.84 percent a year ago.

"The Freddie Mac fixed rate for a 30-year loan continued its ascent this week, following the upward path of the 10-year Treasury [yield], which reached the highest level since May 2019," said George Ratiu, manager of economic research at Realtor.com. "Investors reacted to Federal Reserve Chairman Powell's remarks at the National Association for Business Economics. . . . The main takeaway is that mortgage rates are likely to push toward 5 percent before the end of the year, with lenders anecdotally reporting quotes around 4.75 percent for the 30-year fixed rate."

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