Mortgage rates climb to 4.54 percent
The rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage has climbed to 4.54 percent since last week, and purchase applications increased by 1 percent. After a brief settling period the past few weeks, mortgager rates appear to be on the rise again.
This chart shows the average interest rates of 15- and 30-year fixed rate mortgages since 2007. Rates are still low by historical standards, but they have surged in the first half of 2013.
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The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) publishes the results of a weekly applications survey that covers roughly 50 percent of all residential mortgage originations and tracks the average interest rate for 30 year and 15 year fixed rate mortgages as well as the volume of both purchase and refinance applications.
The purchase application index has been highlighted as a particularly important data series as it very broadly captures the demand side of residential real estate for both new and existing home purchases.
The latest data is showing that the average rate for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage (from FHA and conforming GSE data) increased a notable 14 basis point to 4.54% since last week while the purchase application volume increased 1% and the refinance application volume declined 8% over the same period.
Rates now appear to be rising again after some settling and following weeks of explosive increases that saw a rise of over 100 basis points seemingly directly correlated with the Feds recent suggestion that they may start to "taper" the GSE and treasury purchases later this year.
The following chart shows the average interest rate for 30 year and 15 year fixed rate mortgages since 2006 as well as the purchase, refinance and composite loan volumes (click for larger dynamic full-screen version).