Mortgage rates moved up slightly over the past week to end July on a strong note, according to the latest Freddie Mac [1] Primary Mortgage Market survey. The rates surged over the past week to their highest level since late June, the survey said.
While the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose two basis points to 4.54 percent over 4.52 percent registered last week, they were well above the 3.92 percent recorded last year.
The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage also rose slightly to 4.02 percent from 4 percent. A year ago, it averaged 3.2 percent, Freddie Mac said.
Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid Adjustable-rate Mortgages (ARM) remained unchanged from the week prior at 3.87 percent. However, a year ago, during the same period, they were at 3.20 percent, the survey indicated.
While the rates have remained stable, the next few months will be key for gauging the health of the housing market, according to Sam Khater, Chief Economist, Freddie Mac. "Existing sales appear to have peaked, sales of newly built homes are slowing and unsold inventory is rising for the first time in three years," he said.
Strong economic growth and concerns over tariffs have also continued to neutralize movement this week and according to Danielle Hale, Chief Economist at Realtor.com, buyers can expect "mortgage rates to continue to hold steady until one of these opposing forces wins out over the other."
Khater also pointed to the increasing pressure on affordability as one of the indicators to watch for. "Affordability pressures are increasingly a concern in many markets as the combination of continuous price gains and higher mortgage rates appear to be giving more prospective buyers a pause," he said. "This is why new and existing-home sales are not breaking out this summer despite the healthy economy and labor market."
Read more about how new and existing home sales performed: