Mortgage Rates Unchanged After Yellen's Comments: Freddie

Interest rates on fixed-rate mortgages were unchanged from last week, Freddie Mac said.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.71% for the week ending March 31, the same as last week, according to Freddie Mac's weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey, issued on Thursday. That's 1 basis point higher than a year ago.

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.98%, up 2 basis points from a week ago. The rate was unchanged from last year.

The five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 2.9%, up 1 basis point from last week and down 2 basis points from a year ago.

Although Fed Chair Janet Yellen's comments on Tuesday about interest rates were able to drive a rally in the Treasury markets, they "came too late to affect this week's mortgage rates," said Sean Becketti, Freddie Mac's chief economist.

"If the Fed's cautious tone persists, mortgage rates may register the impact in subsequent weeks," Becketti said.