Mortgage Rates - New Data Shows Second Week Of Continuous Rate Increases

The latest mortgage rate figures released by Bankrate.com in their weekly national survey indicate that mortgage rates were up again last week, making it the second consecutive week where mortgage rates have increased by a significant margin. The rate for the average conforming 30-year fixed mortgage is 4.62% according to Bankrate.com’s latest report, while the rate for the average 15-year fixed mortgage is 4.02%, and the rate for the larger jumbo 30-year fixed rate is 5.24%. All of these mortgage rate figures are significantly higher than the corresponding mortgage rate figures recorded during the previous week.

The report also included details of Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs), and the latest figures for ARMs indicate that they too have increased over the figures recorded during the preceding week, with the current rate for the average 5-year ARM being recorded at 3.71%, and the current rate for the average 7-year ARM being recorded at 4.01%.

Experts attribute these increases in mortgage rates across the board to a number of factors, including the fear of high inflation that have been created by the Fed’s quantitative easing program, the improved unemployment rate figures, as well as a significant improvement in retail sales recorded during the preceding weeks.