Mortgage Rates Increase for the First Time in 2015

Mortgage interest rates rose by three basis points compared with the previous week, the first time there has been an increase since the last week of December, according to Freddie Mac.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate conforming mortgage loan was 3.66% with the increase attributed to positive home sales reports, said Len Kiefer, Freddie Mac's deputy chief economist, in a press release issued Thursday morning.

"New home sales surged 11.6% in December beating market expectations. Likewise, existing home sales rose 2.4% to an annual rate of 5.04 million homes in December," Kiefer said.

At this time last year, the average rate on the 30-year FRM was 4.32%.

The 15-year FRM increased by five basis points over last week to 2.98%, the 5/1 hybrid Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate mortgage is up three basis points to 2.86% and the one-year Treasury-indexed ARM is at 2.98%, an increase of one basis point.

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