The Federal Reserve may have voted to leave its short-term interest rates unchanged this week, but that didn’t stop lenders from moving up mortgage rates. Average mortgage rates are continuing an upward trend in 2018.
“The Federal Reserve did not hike rates this week, but the market views future hikes as a near certainty,” says Len Kiefer, deputy chief economist at Freddie Mac. “The expectation of future Fed rate hikes and increased borrowing by the U.S. Treasury is putting upward pressure on interest rates.”
Freddie Mac reports the following national averages for the week ending Feb. 1:
- 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 4.22 percent, with an average 0.5 point, rising from last week’s 4.15 percent average. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 4.19 percent.
- 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.68 percent, with an average 0.5 point, increasing from last week’s 3.62 percent average. A year ago, 15-year rates averaged 3.41 percent.
Source: Freddie Mac