Rates Rise With Spring Selling Season

This week, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.12 percent, rising four basis points over the previous week, according to the latest data from Freddie Mac.

The federally-backed mortgage lender also said that this was the first time in seven months that the traditional loan product had two consecutive weekly gains. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage also rose four basis points to an average 3.60 percent. The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage was up from 3.66 percent to 3.80 percent, Realtor.com reports.

Fixed-rate mortgages follow the trajectory of the 10-year U.S. Treasury note. Bond yields are stabilizing as economic data improves and investors pivot back to less-safe assets, like stocks.

There are clear signals that Americans have become increasingly sensitive to rates: applications for mortgages fell 5 percent in the past week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday, continuing a pattern of rates and applications moving in lockstep. Still, even with the recent move up, the 30-year-fixed is nearly half a percentage point lower than its full-year average in 2018.

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