Mortgage Rates Hit Highest Level of the Year

• May 28, 2015

by Lark Turner

Mortgage rates rose to their highest level of the year on Thursday.

The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage hit 3.87 percent with an average 0.7 point, according to Freddie Mac. That’s up from 3.84 last week and down from 4.12 percent a year ago.

To put the rate in perspective, 2014 ended at 3.87 percent, near the low for the year. We put 3.87 near record and historic lows in February 2012 and in late December 2014.

In a news release, Len Kiefer, Freddie Mac’s deputy chief economist, said the higher rates were thanks to a strong real estate market.

“Mortgage rates rose to the highest level in 2015 following positive housing market data. New home sales surged 6.8 percent to an annual pace of 517,000 units in April. Although existing home sales slipped 3.3 percent to a seasonally-adjusted pace of 5.04 million units, sales are up 6.1 percent on a year-over-year basis. The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index also posted a solid gain of 5 percent over the 12-months ending in March 2015.”

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 http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/3.87_mortgage_rates_rise_to_2015_high/9938