Mortgage rates slightly increased due to a better-than-expected jobs report, Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey found.
The 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.15% for the week ended July 10, marginally up from 4.12% last week, but down from 4.51% a year ago.
The 15-year, FRM increased from 3.22% a week ago to 3.24%, but is still down from 3.53% in 2013.
In addition, the 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage came in at 2.99% for the week, barely up from 2.98% a week prior and significantly down from 3.26% a year ago.
The 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.40%, compared to 2.38% last week and 2.66% for the same period last year.
“Mortgage rates increased for the week as the labor market appears to be improving. Based on the employment report, released last week, the U.S. economy added 288,000 jobs in June, gained 224,000 in May and increased by 304,000 in April. Also, the unemployment rate in June fell to 6.1% from 6.3% in May,” Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist with Freddie Mac, said.
And the same results can be seen in the Bankrate data.
The 30-year, FRM ticked higher to 4.31%, up from 4.28% last week, while the 15-year, FRM hit 3.41%, up from 3.40% a week ago.
Meanwhile, the 5/1 ARM remained unchanged at 3.33%.
Looking back at the June jobs report, 288,000 jobs were added in June, above expectations.
“Jobs report was positive overall, showing that the pace of hiring continues a solid upward trajectory. The string of five consecutive monthly gains averaging more than 200,000 was the best performance since late 1999," said Fannie Mae Chief Economist Doug Duncan.
"However, not all is rosy, especially from the Federal Reserve’s perspective. The labor force participation rate remains at depressed levels last witnessed during the 1970s. In addition, despite the improved pace of hiring, wage gains remain weak, implying the persistence of considerable slack in the labor market,” he added.
