New data released has shown that mortgage rates have risen for the fourth consecutive week, adding even more weight to the belief that the property market, which was so badly hit during the global property crash, is managing to sustain its recovery and gain back some of ground that it had lost.
Speaking about the news, Frank Nothaft, chief economist for Freddie Mac, said: "Fixed mortgage rates inched upward this week along with other long-term yields. The Census Bureau reported that residential building permits were up in July, although builders slowed the pace of construction starts on one-family homes in July to the least since March, while apartment and condominium building picked up to the most since April. Existing home sales rose in July from June's eight-month low and the median sales price jumped 9.4% from a year earlier." This median sales price rise represented the biggest yearly gain since January 2006.
The rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage was up from the 3.62% witnessed last week to 3.66% this week. When this figure is compared to the 4.22% available at the same time last year, it is clear that mortgage rates still have some way to go.
There was also a rise of 0.01% in the rate available for 15-year fixed rate mortgages, up from 2.88% to 2.89%; during the same period last year, the rate was 3.44%.
Five-year ARMs (Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages) rose by an average of 0.04%, while one-year ARMs fell by an average of 0.03%.