NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
Mortgage rates rose for the sixth consecutive week, a mortgage finance firm reported Thursday, as a string of strong economic reports pointed to higher interest rates in the not-too-distant future.
For the week ended April 29, the rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.01 percent, with an average 0.7 point payable up front, up from the previous week when it averaged 5.94 percent, according to mortgage finance firm Freddie Mac.
Last year at this time, the 30-year averaged 5.70 percent.
The 15-year mortgage rose to 5.35 percent from last week's 5.25 percent, with 0.6 point payable up front. A year ago, it was 5.03 percent.
The one-year adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.75 percent, up from 3.69 percent the previous week, with 0.6 point payable up front. A year earlier it averaged 3.74 percent.
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Despite a GDP report that came in Thursday below economists' estimates, components of the report showed inflation continues to creep into the world's largest economy.
"With financial markets more optimistic that the economy is expanding nicely, mortgage rates had nowhere to go but up this week," said Amy Crews Cutts, Freddie Mac deputy chief economist. "Then, as a result of the GDP figures released today (Thursday), the market began weighing which part of GDP it feels is most dominant, growth or inflation."
Freddie Mac's average mortgage rates are based on a survey of 125 lenders nationwide.
Freddie Mac (FRE: up $0.46 to $58.23, Research, Estimates), or Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., is a publicly traded company the government established in 1970 to provide a flow of funds to mortgage lenders. It buys mortgages from banks, bundles them and then resells them as mortgage-backed securities.
Its products, and the products of other similar entities, have become popular as an alternative to government-backed bonds, notably with international investors.
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