Freddie Mac released its weekly update on national mortgage rates this morning, revealing a quick bounce-back in interest rates nearly across the board.
Thirty-year fixed-rate mortgages (FRM) rose seven basis points in comparison to last week, returning to 3.42% -- about where they were back in late January. Shorter-term 15-year FRMs gained back five b.p. to return to the levels of two weeks ago -- 2.61%. 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgages gained two b.p., rising to 2.58%.
Only one-year ARMs continued to fall, declining three basis points to 2.53%.
Commenting on the numbers, Freddie Mac Vice President and Chief Economist Frank Nothaft credited "a solid employment report" in April for the bounce-back. "The economy gained 165,000 new jobs on net last month, more than the market consensus forecast and the largest monthly increase this year. On top of that, revisions added 114,000 more jobs to February and March as well. All of these factors allowed the unemployment rate to fall to 7.5 percent in April, the lowest since December 2008."
With a stronger job market meaning more money in homebuyers' wallets, a rise in the rates banks would charge them was only to be expected.
