Fixed Mortgage Rates Spike

Freddie Mac released its weekly update on national mortgage rates this morning, showing a continuing upward trend.

Thirty-year fixed rate mortgages (FRM) spiked sharply this week, rising 11 basis points in comparison to last week to hit 3.53% -- a new high for this still-young year and the first week the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has averaged above 3.5% since Sept. 13, 2012. Fifteen-year FRMs are up a similar 10 basis points, to 2.81%.

Adjustable-rate mortgages are also on the rise. After three weeks of stasis, 5/1 ARMs rose three basis points to reach 2.7%, while one-year ARMs tacked on two basis points and now stand at 2.59%.

Commenting on the numbers, Freddie Mac Vice President and Chief Economist Frank Nothaft said: "Mortgage rates continued to trend upwards this week amid a growing economy led in part by the recovering housing market. For instance,�new home sales�totaled 367,000 in 2012, the most in three years and reflected the first annual increase in seven years.�Pending home sales�in 2012 averaged its highest reading since 2006. And the S&P/Case-Shiller�20-city composite�house price index�rose 5.5 percent over the 12-months ending in November 2012, the largest annual growth since August 2006. All of these factors helped residential fixed investment to add nearly 0.4 percentage points to real�GDP�growth in the fourth quarter alone."

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