Positive housing data from the end of 2011 nudged the average weekly rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage back upward by 10 basis points to 3.98% in Freddie Mac's primary market survey, reversing a three-week trend of record-setting lows.
Freddie Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft in his weekly rate report attributed the increase in part to the 4.4% December rise in new construction of single-family homes. This marked the highest annualized rate since April 2010. Nothaft, a Freddie Mac vice president, also said that a 5% jump in existing home sales that was the largest since May 2010 was a contributing factor. November and December 2011 data that registered the highest leap in pending home sales since the March and April 2010 period also played a role in the rate increase, he said.
All other rates in the Freddie survey except the stable one-year Treasury-indexed ARM rate also moved upward to lesser degrees.
The average 15-year FRM rate rose by seven basis points to 3.24% while the average rate for a five-year hybrid Treasury adjustable-rate mortgage inched up three basis points to 2.85%.
The one-year Treasury ARM rate remained at 2.74%.
Average points were highest for 15-year product at 0.8 of a point, as compared to an average of 0.7 of a point for 30-year and five-year Treasury loans and 0.6 of a point for one-year Treasury ARMs.
Current rates are still lower than a year ago when the 30-year was at 4.8%, the 15-year was 4.09%, the five-year Treasury hybrid was 3.7% and the one-year Treasury ARM was 3.26%.
