Despite increasing for the second week in a row, mortgage rates are still well below levels seen at the end of last year.
According to Freddie Mac’s latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the week of March 10, this is only the second increase this year, making mortgage rates very attractive for the upcoming spring home-buying season.
Click chart to enlarge
(Source: Freddie Mac)
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.68%, up from last week’s 3.64%. A year ago, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.86%.
Also increasing, the 15-year FRM this week jumped to 2.96%, up from 2.94% a week ago. In 2015, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.10%.
The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 2.92% this week, rising from last week’s 2.84%. A year ago, the 5-year ARM sat at 3.01%.
“The 10-year Treasury yield ended the survey week exactly where it started, however the solid February employment report boosted the yield noticeably on Friday and Monday,” said Sean Becketti, chief economist with Freddie Mac.
“Our mortgage rate survey captured the impact of this temporary increase in yield, and the 30-year mortgage rate rose 4 basis points to 3.68%. This marks the second increase this year. Nonetheless, the mortgage rate remains 33 basis points lower than its end-of-2015 level,” added Becketti.
