Key mortgage rates rise to highest level in more than a decade

WASHINGTON – US long-term mortgage rates continued to rise this week as key 30-year lending rates hit 5% for the first time in more than a decade in the context of persistently high inflation.

The average 5% rate on a 30-year mortgage was up from 4.72% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said on Thursday.

The average rate in recent months showed the fastest rate of increase since 1994. By contrast, a year ago, the 30-year rate stood at 3.04 percent.

Average interest rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular among people refinancing their homes, rose to 4.17% from 3.91% last week .

With inflation at a four-decade high, mortgage rates rising, home prices rising and a tight supply of homes for sale, home ownership has become the most expensive goal in a generation, says Freddie Mac. . And this comes as the spring home buying season begins.

House prices are up about 15% over the past year and up to 30% in some cities. Available homes were in short supply even before the coronavirus pandemic began just over two years ago.

A government report on Wednesday showed rising energy costs pushed wholesale prices to a record 11.2% last month from a year earlier – another sign of inflationary pressures. spreading in the US economy.

Energy prices, which have skyrocketed worldwide after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, have increased 36.7% compared to March 2021.

The wholesale inflation report was released a day after the Labor Department revealed that consumer prices in March rose 8.5% from a year earlier, the fastest annual increase since December 1981. .

at Blogtuan.info – Source: nbcnews.com – Read the original article here