Mortgage rates rose to their highest level since the summer as predicted following Congress passing income tax reform, according to Freddie Mac.
| 30-Year FRM | 15-Year ARM | 5/1-Year ARM | |
| Average Rates | 3.99% | 3.44% | 3.47% |
| Fees & Points | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.3 |
| Margin | N/A | N/A | 2.75 |
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.99% for the week ending Dec. 28,
"As we expected, mortgage rates felt the effect of last week's surge in long-term interest rates in the final, shortened week of 2017. Although this week's survey rate represents a five-month high, 30-year fixed mortgage rates are still below the levels we saw at the end of last year and early part of 2017. Mortgage rates have remained relatively low all year," Len Kiefer, Freddie Mac's deputy chief economist, said in a press release.
The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage this week averaged 3.44%, up from last week when it averaged 3.38%. A year ago at this time, the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.55%.
The five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 3.47% this week with an average 0.3 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.39%. A year ago at this time, the five-year adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 3.3%.
"Mortgage rates were flat during the holiday-shortened week, after rising early last week to their highest levels since late June," Aaron Terrazas, Zillow's senior economist, said when that company released its own rate tracker on Wednesday.
Zillow's tracker recorded the post-tax rate increase one week ago.
"There is little major economic news on the schedule for this week to impact rates, with markets and lenders mostly quiet between the Christmas and New Year's holidays. Despite three interest rates hikes by the Federal Reserve over the past year, mortgage rates are ending 2017 about 20 basis points below where they ended 2016 — largely driven by a flattening yield curve. It’s unlikely that this pattern can last long into 2018," Terrazas said.
