Mortgage Rates Hit Biggest Increase Since Summer

Freddie Mac released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey Thursday, revealing that 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rates posted its biggest week-over-week increase since July 2017.

"The 30-year mortgage rate increased for a second consecutive week, jumping 6 basis points to 3.91 percent,” Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sean Becketti said. “The 10-year Treasury yield also rose, climbing 4 basis points this week."

Last week, 30-year fixed rate mortgage rates averaged 3.91 percent, which was at 3.47 percent this time in 2016. 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.21 percent with an average 0.5 point, an increase from last week when the 15-year FRM sat at 3.15 percent. In early October 2016, the rate averaged 2.82 percent.

Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 3.16 percent with an average 0.4 point. This was a slight decrease from last week when it averaged 3.18 percent and an increase from this time last year when it averaged 2.82 percent.

In its weekly mortgage rate trend index, Bankrate said nearly two-thirds of respondents said rates will remain relatively stable next week, but Shaun Guerrero, Branch Manager at Alterra Home Loans in Silverdale, Washington believes they will go up.

“The housing market is still going strong! Year over year, we are up almost half a percent in rates and purchases are still up 7 percent for the year,” Guerrero told Bankrate. “It is important that as rates look to continue to go up, you lock in your loan early in the lending process. Rates will continue their rise over the next few weeks.”

Les Parker, SVP of LoanLogics in Trevose, Pennsylvania, believes rates will go down.

“It’s October. Will it be Surprise, Trick, or Treat (or is it Tweet)? The mix of trends among related markets offer opportunities for surprises and tricks,” Parker told Bankrate. “But the sweet treat comes with mortgages staying bullish. Who knows about tweets?”