Mortgage Rates End 2015 Above 4 Percent

• January 4, 2016

by Tianna Mañón

Long-term mortgage rates ended 2015 above 4 percent for the first time in five months, and there are predictions that rates will be well above 4 percent by the end of the new year.

Freddie Mac reported on New Year’s Eve that rates would end the year averaging 4.01 percent with an average 0.6 point. It marked the first time that rates rose above 4 percent since late July.

“In the final week of 2015, Treasury yields jumped reacting in part to strong consumer confidence in December,” said Freddie Mac chief economist Sean Becketti. “In response, the 30-year mortgage rate rose 5 basis points to 4.01 percent, ending a 5-month span below 4 percent. After averaging 3.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015, we expect the 30-year mortgage rate to average 4.7 percent for the fourth quarter of 2016.”

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/4.01_2015_ends_in_five-month_high/10710