U.S. mortgage rates reached their highest level since April 2014, following the Federal Reserve’s decision last week to raise interest rates for the first time in 2016.
The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage reached 4.3 percent, a jump from 4.16 percent last week, Freddie Mac said in a statement cited by Bloomberg. The 15-year rate rose from 3.37 percent to 3.52 percent, its highest level since January 2014.
Bond yields and mortgage rates have been steadily rising since Donald Trump’s presidential victory, and there has been great speculation over whether the Federal Reserve would raise rates.
Last week, the Federal Reserve increased its benchmark lending rate for the first time in 2016. It also indicated it will raise short-term interest rates more aggressively in 2017 than was initially planned.
“A week after the only rate hike of 2016, the mortgage industry digested the Fed’s decision,” Sean Becketti, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said in a statement, according to the publication. [Bloomberg] — Miriam Hall