McLEAN, Va. – Mortgage rates continued to rise steeply this week, for the third week in a row, amid a lackluster mortgage market, according to Freddie Mac.
The average for the benchmark 30-year, fixed-rate loan climbed to 6.24% this week, from 6.04% last week, while the average for the 15-year, fixed-rate mortgage rose to 5.72%, from 5.64%.
The average for both long-term loans rose by 57 basis points over the past three weeks, after they had fallen to four-year lows.
ARM rates also rose this week, with the average for the five-year ARM rising to 5.43%, form 5.37% last week; and the average for the one-year ARM moving up to 5.11%, from 4.98% last week.
But rates are expected to moderate, if not fall, in the coming weeks, according to Frank Nothaft, chief economist for the secondary mortgage market giant. “Refinancing activities, which had surged to a 12-month high in January,” he said, “are likely to ebb following the recent rise in rates.”
