Mortgage rates increased leading up to the Fed’s monetary policy statement this week.
Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.39 percent with an average point of 0.7 percent for the week ending Aug. 1, up from 4.31 percent last week but down from 3.55 percent a year ago, according to Freddie Mac’s latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages and five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) loans also rose, while rates on one-year Treasury-indexed ARMs slipped marginally.
Citing modest economic growth, the Fed said in the statement that it would not begin to taper its bond-purchasing program just yet. The program has helped keep mortgage rates near record lows during the housing recovery, but indications that the Fed may wind it down later this year have recently pushed up rates.
Since the Fed statement came on Thursday, the recorded increase in rates may not fully reflect the market’s reaction to Fed comments. Source: Freddie Mac
