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FHFA: Mortgage interest rates increased in December

Rates still below 4%

Mortgage interest rates rose in December across the U.S., a new report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency showed.

According to the FHFA, several indices of new mortgage contracts showed that interest rates on conventional purchase-money mortgages increased from November to December.

According to the FHFA report, the average interest rates on all mortgage loans went up 10 basis points from a 3.86 to a 3.96%. The average interest rate on conventional, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages of $417,00 or less went up from a 4.08 to 4.20%.

The FHFA report showed that there was a significant rise in late November as opposed to earlier that month, when the National Average Contract Mortgage Rate for the Purchase of Previously Occupied Homes by Combined Lenders Index, went from a 3.85% to a 3.97% for closed loans.

The effective interest rate on all mortgage loan went up 9 basis points from their 4.01% in November. The effective interest rate accounts for the addition of initial fees and charges over the life of the mortgage.

The FHFA report also showed that the average loan amount in November was $319,800 and went down in $1,800 in December to $318,000.

The FHFA will release January’s index values February 25, 2016. 

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