Mortgage rates rise, crossing the 4% threshold

Mortgage rates rose across the board for the second consecutive week, with the 30-year fixed-rate loan moving over 4%, according to Freddie Mac.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.03% for the week ending July 13, up 7 basis points from last week when it averaged 3.96%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.42%, 61 basis points lower.

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"After fully absorbing the sharp increases in Treasury yields over the past couple of weeks, the 30-year mortgage rate has cleared the psychologically important 4% mark for the first time since May," said Sean Becketti, chief economist at Freddie Mac.

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.29%, also up 7 basis points from last week when it averaged 3.22%. A year ago at this time, the 15-year averaged 2.72%, a difference of 57 basis points.

The five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 3.28%, up 7 basis points from last week when it averaged 3.21%. A year ago at this time, it averaged 2.76%, a difference of 52 basis points.

Going forward, even though the 10-year Treasury yield moved down sharply after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's testimony before Congress on Wednesday, by Thursday morning it had regained most of that loss.

But Zillow is not expecting any wide movements in mortgage rates this week.

"Rates should be relatively flat again this week, with low expectations for inflation data on Friday," said Erin Lantz, Zillow's vice president of mortgages.

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