Spiking Treasury yields drive increase in mortgage rates

As expected, mortgage rates had their largest week-over-week increase since March as yields on the 10-year Treasury moved sharply higher, according to Freddie Mac.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.96% for the week ending July 6, up from last week when it averaged 3.88%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.41%.

NMN070617-Rates

"Global interest rates turned up sharply over the last week. The 10-year Treasury yield was no exception, increasing 10 basis points in a holiday-shortened week. The 30-year mortgage rate followed suit, rising 8 basis points," said Sean Becketti, chief economist at Freddie Mac.

A week ago, Becketti said if Treasury yields continued to rise, it was likely there would be an increase in mortgage rates this week.

And another increase could be on the way, as the 10-year Treasury yield rose an additional 6 basis points to 2.38% at 11 a.m. on Thursday morning.

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.22%, up from last week when it averaged 3.17%. A year ago at this time, the 15-year averaged 2.74%.

The five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 3.21%, up from last week when it averaged 3.17%. At this time last year, it averaged 2.68%.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
Mortgage rates forecast Underwriting Freddie Mac
MORE FROM NATIONAL MORTGAGE NEWS