4.37: Mortgage Rates Back Up

• March 13, 2014

by Lark Turner

After a brief reversal last week, long-term mortgage rates moved back up to 4.37 percent this week, according to Freddie Mac. That’s the same position rates were in two weeks ago, when rates were steadily climbing.

Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said the return to 4.37 was attributable to a week light on economic and housing news.

“Mortgage rates edged up amid a week of light economic reports. Of the few releases, the economy added 175,000 jobs in February, which was above the market consensus forecast and followed an upward revision of 25,000 jobs for the prior two months. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate nudged up to 6.7 percent, the first rate increase in over a year.”

Here is a look at the path of interest rates over the past several years:

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/4.37_mortgage_rates_back_up/8233