Mortgage Rates Spike to Just Below 4% Following Election

• November 17, 2016

by UrbanTurf Staff

It was bound to happen sooner or later.

On Thursday, long-term mortgage rates shot up 40 basis points to 3.94 percent with an average 0.5 points. This is the highest rates have been since January.

Freddie Mac chief economist Sean Becketti noted that the effect of the recent presidential election is now moving rates.

“This week, the verdict is in — over the last two weeks the 30-year mortgage rate jumped 40 basis points to 3.94 percent, almost identical to the 39 basis point increase in the 10-year Treasury yield,” Becketti said in a statement. “If rates stick at these levels, expect a final burst of home sales and refinances as ‘fence sitters’ try to beat further increases, then a marked slowdown in housing activity.”

The spike of 37 basis points week-over-week is the 17th largest weekly jump in rates since 1980.

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/mortgage_rates_spike_to_just_below_4_following_election/11899