Mortgage rates edged higher this week, with the average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages pushing back above 5%, according to Freddie Mac's weekly survey.
Treasury yields, which hit multidecade lows earlier this year, have been creeping up recently after they retraced down from a big rebound in the summer. Mortgage rates tend to follow Treasury yields.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.03% for the week ended Thursday, up from last week's 5% average, but down from 6.46% a year earlier. Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages were 4.46%, up from 4.43% last week, but falling from 6.19% a year earlier.
Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 4.42%, up from last week's 4.4%, but down from 6.36% a year earlier. One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs were 4.57%, up from 4.54% last week but down from 5.38% a year earlier.
To obtain the rates, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage required payment of an average 0.7 point, while the rest required an average of 0.6 point. A point is 1% of the mortgage amount, charged as prepaid interest.
