4.58: Highest Rates This Year

• August 22, 2013

by Shilpi Paul

Mortgage rates jumped up significantly this week, reaching the highest average yet this year.

On Thursday morning, Freddie Mac reported 4.58 percent with an average 0.8 point as the average on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. Last week, rates averaged 4.40 percent.

At this time last year, rates averaged 3.66 percent.

From Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist Frank Nothaft on today’s rates:

Fixed mortgage rates continued to follow bond yields higher leading up to the August 21st release of the Federal Reserve monetary policy committee’s minutes for July. In its July 30th and 31st meetings, the committee members were broadly comfortable with a plan to start reducing its bond purchases later this year, although a few emphasized the importance of being patient. Meeting participants acknowledged mortgage rate increases might restrain housing market activity, but several members expressed confidence the housing recovery would be resilient in the face of higher rates.

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.

Here’s a look at the path of rates since January 2010:

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/4.58_highest_rates_this_year/7491