By Andrea Riquier, MarketWatch
Rates for home loans edged up after reports showed the economy was shrugging off its winter sluggishness.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.12% during the April 11 week, mortgage guarantor Freddie Mac reported Thursday. That was up from 4.08%, and marked the first time in seven months that the popular product had managed two weekly gains in a row.
The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.60%, up four basis points. The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 3.80%, up from 3.66%.
Those rates don’t include fees associated with obtaining mortgage loans.
Fixed-rate mortgages follow the trajectory of the 10-year U.S. Treasury note. Bond yields are stabilizing as economic data improves and investors pivot back to less-safe assets, like stocks.
There are clear signals that Americans have become increasingly sensitive to rates: applications for mortgages fell 5% in the past week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday, continuing a pattern of rates and applications moving in lockstep. Still, even with the recent move up, the 30-year-fixed is nearly half a percentage point lower than its full-year average in 2018.
And mortgage rates aren’t the only thing holding back the housing market. The spring selling season is in full bloom across most of the country, and the coming weeks will be critical.
Success will hinge on whether Americans have shaken off the concerns that dogged them last year, such as their household tax situations and the fear of buying right before a market top, and the availability of homes in the lower price segments.
