BOSTON – U.S. mortgage rates rose, with the 30-year average topping 4 percent for the first time in five months, after the Federal Reserve’s decision to increase its benchmark lending rate.
The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 4.01 percent, up from from 3.96 percent last week, Freddie Mac said in a statement Thursday. The average 15-year rate climbed to 3.24 percent from 3.22 percent, according to the McLean, Va.-based mortgage-finance company.
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The central bank’s first interest-rate increase in nine years is pushing up home-loan costs just before the start of the peak selling season in the U.S. Mortgage rates near record lows along with a tight supply of available homes have helped support a recovery in prices, while job gains have boosted demand.
The 30-year average will climb to 4.7 percent by the fourth quarter of 2016, according to a projection by Sean Becketti, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.
