3.80: Mortgage Rates Jump on Rosy Economic News

• May 7th 2015

by Lark Turner

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Mortgage rates reached their highest level since February this week.

The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage moved to 3.80 percent with an average 0.6 point, according to Freddie Mac. That’s up from 3.68 last week and down from 4.21 percent a year ago.

In a news release, Len Kiefer, Freddie Mac’s deputy chief economist, said positive housing trends were leading the rise in rates.

“Mortgage rates rose this week to the highest level since the week of March 12 as a selloff in German bunds helped drive U.S. Treasury yields above 2.2 percent. The U.S. trade deficit reached $51.4 billion in March to the highest level since 2008. Also, the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index was unchanged in April, but manufacturing employment contracted as the index fell below 50 for the first time since May 2013.”

UrbanTurf is following the path of the rates in this chart:

The UrbanTurf Mortgage Rate Disclaimer: The rates reported by Freddie Mac for 30-year mortgages are usually the best rates that the most qualified borrowers can get, so borrowers or those considering refinancing should not necessarily read this news and think that they can go out and get a loan with the quoted interest rate.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/3.80_mortgage_rates_jump_on_rosy_economic_news/9857.