REUTERS-Interest rates
on U.S. 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose for the first time in four weeks, in
step with bond yields, on expectations of faster growth and inflation
spurred
by policy decisions of U.S. President Donald Trump, according to mortgage
finance agency Freddie Mac (FMCC.PK) on Thursday.
Trump, since
taking office last Friday, has embarked on a series of moves aimed at
bolstering jobs and capital investments, stoking jitters about inflation.
Benchmark
10-year Treasury yields US10YT=RR rose to four-week highs early Thursday at
2.551 percent.
The borrowing
cost on 30-year mortgages, the most widely held type of U.S. home loan,
averaged 4.19 percent in the week ended Jan. 26, up from 4.09 percent last week
which was the lowest since early December, it said.
Four weeks
earlier, it averaged 4.32 percent, which was the highest since 4.33 percent in
the week of April 24, 2014.
The spike in
mortgage rates, together with tight housing supply, have crimped home sales.
On Thursday,
the government said new single-family home sales fell to a 10-month low in
December, though they marked their strongest year since 2007 last year.
While housing
turnover fell at the end of last year, home prices marched higher, lifting the
median values on new homes by 7.9 percent in 2016.
Limited
housing inventory "should support higher house prices regardless of the
oscillations of the mortgage rate," Freddie Mac's chief economist Sean
Becketti said in a statement.
Below is a
summary of Freddie Mac's average mortgage rates in the week ended Jan. 26:
Loan type
Latest week (pct) Week ago (pct) Year ago (pct)
30-year fixed
4.19 4.09 3.79
15-year fixed
3.40 3.34 3.07
5-year ARM
3.20 3.21 2.90
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