Mortgage rates have been creeping higher recently, which is the last thing an already soft housing market needs.
Exchange traded funds (ETFs) that invest in homebuilder stocks and related industries have traded in a range so far this year along with yields on 10-year Treasury notes. Mortgage rates are closely tied to 10-year yields.
Freddie Mac announced that 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rates slightly increased to an average 4.91% for the week ending April 14 from 4.87% as compared to the previous week, which is still below the 5.07% average of last year, reports Amy Hoak for MarketWatch.
The fifteen-year fixed-rate mortgage also inched up to an average 4.13% this week from 4.1% last week, and it is still below the 4.4% average a year ago.
Furthermore, adjustable-rate mortgages rose along with the 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage to an average 3.78% from 3.72% last week – the average ARM was 4.08% last year.